UNIVERSITY  OF 
NORTI I  CAROLINA 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 

illinium 

00022092316 


COUSIN   LUCY'S 


CONVERSATIONS. 


AUTHOR  OF  THE  EOLLO  BOOKS. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 
REVISED   BY   THE   AUTHOR. 


NEW  YORK: 
CLARK,   AUSTIN   &   SMITH, 

3    PARK   ROW   AND    8    ANN-STREET, 
1854. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841. 

By  T.  II.  CAKTKR. 

In  the  C!?rk*s  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


NOTICE. 


The  simple  delineations  of  the  ordinary 
incidents  and  feelings  which  characterize 
childhood,  that  are  contained  in  the  Rollo 
Books,  having  been  found  to  interest,  and, 
as  the  author  hopes,  in  some  degree  to 
benefit  the  young  readers  for  whom  they 
were  designed, — the  plan  is  herein  ex- 
tended t-o  children  of  the  other  sex.     The 
two  first  volumes  of  the  series  are  Lucy's 
Conversations    and   Lucy's    Stories. 
Lucy  was  Rollo's  cousin ;  and  the  author 
/     hopes  that  the  history  of  her  life  and  ad- 
^  ventures  may  be  entertaining  and  useful 
^j-  to  the  sisters  of  the  boys  who  have  hon- 

Oored  the  Rollo  Books  with  their  approval 
0  1  * 


CONTENTS 


CONVERSATION    1. 

Page. 
The   Treasury, 9 

CONVERSATION   It. 
Definitions, 21 

CONVERSATION  III. 
The    Glen, 34 

CONVERSATION  IV, 
A    Prisoner, 43 

CONVERSATION  V. 
Target  Painting, 51 

CONVERSATION  VI. 
Midnight, GO 


8  CONTENTS. 


CONVERSATION  VII. 

Page. 

Joanna, ~5 


CONVERSATION  VIII. 

Building, S3 

CONVERSATION   IX. 
Eon  vocation, 103 

CONVERSATION   X. 
Johnny, 113 

CONVERSATION   XI. 
Getting  Lost, 132 

CONVERSATION  XIII 
Lucy's  Scholar,. 1 4G 

CONVERSATION  XIII. 
Sketching, 159 

CONVERSATION    XIV. 
Danger, 170 


LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 


CONVERSATION   I. 
THE   TREASURY. 

One  day  in  summer,  when  Lucy  was  a  very 
little  girl,  she  was  sitting  in  her  rocking-chair, 
playing  keep  school.  She  had  placed  several 
crickets  and  small  chairs  in  a  row  for  the  chil- 
dren's seats,  and  had  been  talking,  in  dialogue, 
for  some  time,  pretending  to  hold  conversations 
with  her  pupils.  She  heard  one  read  and  spell, 
and  gave  another  directions  about  her  writing; 
and  she  had  quite  a  long  talk  with  a  third  about 
the  reason  why  she  did  not  come  to  school  earlier. 
At  last  Lucy,  seeing  the  kitten  come  into  the 
room,  and  thinking  that  she  should  like  to  go  and 
play  with  her,  told  the  children  that  she  thought 
it  was  time  for  school  to  be  done. 

Royal,  Lucy's  brother,  had  been  sitting  upon 


10  lucy's  conversations. 

the  steps  at  the  front  door,  while  Lucy  was  play- 
ing school ;  and  just  as  she  was  thinking  that  it 
was  time  to  dismiss  the  children,  he  happened  to 
get  up  and  come  into  the  room.  Royal  was 
about  eleven  years  old.  When  he  found  that 
Lucy  was  playing  school,  he  stopped  at  the  door 
a  moment  to  listen. 

"  Now,  children,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  is  time  for  the 
school  to  be  dismissed ;  for  I  want  to  play  with 
the  kitten." 

Here  Royal  laughed  aloud. 

Lucy  looked  around,  a  little  disturbed  at  Roy- 
al's interruption.  Besides,  she  did  not  like  to  be 
laughed  at.  She,  however,  said  nothing  in  reply, 
but  still  continued  to  give  her  attention  to  her 
school.  Royal  walked  in,  and  stood  somewhat 
nearer. 

"  We  will  sing  a  hymn,"  said  Lucy,  gravely. 

Here  Royal  laughed  again. 

y  Royal,  you  must  not  laugh,"  said  Lucy. 
"  They  always  sing  a  hymn  at  the  end  of  a 
school."  Then,  making  believe  that  she  was 
speaking  to  her  scholars,  she  said,  "  You  may  all 
take  out  your  hymn-books,  children." 

Lucy  had  a  little  hymn-book  in  her  hand,  and 
she  began  turning  over  the  leaves,  pretending  to 
find  a  place. 


THE    TREASURY.  11 

"  You  may  sing,"  she  said,  at  last,  "  the  thirty- 
third  hymn,  long  part,  second  metre." 

At  this  sad  mismating  of  the  words  in  Lucy's 
announcement  of  the  hymn,  Royal  found  that 
he  could  contain  himself  no  longer.  He  burst 
into  loud  and  incontrollable  fits  of  laughter,  stag- 
gering about  the  room,  and  saying  to  himself,  as 
he  could  catch  a  little  breath,  "  Long  part !  — 
O  dear  me !  —  second  metre  !  —  O  dear ! " 

"  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  with  all  the  sternness  she 
could  command,  "  you  shall  not  laugh." 

Royal  made  no  reply,  but  tumbled  over  upon 
the  sofa,  holding  his  sides,  and  every  minute  re- 
peating, at  the  intervals  of  the  paroxysm,  "  Long 
part  —  second  metre !  —  O  dear  me  I  " 

"  Royal,"  said  Lucy  again,  stamping  with  her 
little  foot  upon  the  carpet,  "  I  tell  you,  you 
shall  not  laugh." 

Then  suddenly  she  seized  a  little  twig  which  she 
had  by  her  side,  and  which  she  had  provided  as  a 
rod  to  punish  her  imaginary  scholars  with  ;  and, 
starting  up,  she  ran  towards  Royal,  saying,  "  I'll 
soon  make  you  sober  with  my  rod." 

Royal  immediately  jumped  up  from  the  sofa, 
and  ran  off,  —  Lucy  in  hot  pursuit.  Royal  turned 
into  the  back  entry,  and  passed  out  through  an 
open  door  behind,  which  led  into  a  little  green 


12  lucy's  conversations. 

yard  back  of  the  house.  There  was  a  young 
lady,  about  seventeen  years  old,  coming  out  of  the 
garden  into  the  little  yard,  with  a  watering-pot  in 
her  hand,  just  as  Royal  and  Lucy  came  out  of 
the  house. 

She  stopped  Lucy,  and  asked  her  what  was  the 
matter. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  Royal  keeps 
laughing  at  me." 

Miss  Anne  looked  around  to  see  Royal.  He 
had  gone  and  seated  himself  upon  a  bench  under 
an  apple-tree,  and  seemed  entirely  out  of  breath 
and  exhausted ;  though  his  face  was  still  full  of 
half-suppressed  glee. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Royal  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Why,  he  is  laughing  at  my  school,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  No,  I  am  not  laughing  at  her  school,"  said 
Royal ;  "  but  she  was  going  to  give  out  a  hymn, 
and  she  said " 

Royal  could  not  get  any  further.  The  fit  of 
laughter  came  over  him  again,  and  he  lay  down 
upon  the  bench,  unable  to  give  any  further  account 
of  it,  except  to  get  out  the  words,  "  Long  part ! 
O  dear  me !     What  shall  I  do  ?  " 


THE    TREASURY.  13 

"  Royal !  "  exclaimed  Lucy. 

"  Never  mind  him,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  let 
him  laugh  if  he  will,  and  you,  come  with  me." 

"  Why,  where  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  Into  my  room.  Come,  go  in  with  me,  and  I 
will  talk  with  you." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  Lucy  along  with  her  into 
a  little  back  bedroom.  There  was  a  window  at 
one  side,  and  a  table,  with  books,  and  an  inkstand, 
and  a  work-basket  upon  it.  Miss  Amne  sat  down 
at  this  window,  and  took  her  work ;  and  Lucy 
came  and  leaned  against  her,  and  said, 

"  Come,  Miss  Anne,  you  said  you  would  talk 
with  me." 

'■'■  Well,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  there  is  one  thing 
which  I  do  not  like." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

:i  Why,  you  do  not  keep  your  treasury  in  order.'" 

"  Well,  that,"  said  Lucy,  "  is  because  I  have 
got  so  many  things." 

"  Then  I  would  not  have  so  many  things  ;  — 
at  least  I  would  not  keep  them  all  in  my  treasury." 

"  Well,  Miss  Anne,  if  you  would  only  keep 
some  of  them  for  me,  —  then  I  could  keep  the 
rest  in  order." 

"  What  sort  of  things  should  you  wish  me  to 
keep  ? " 

2 


14  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Why,  my  best  things,  —  my  tea-set,  I  am 
sure,  so  that  I  shall  not  lose  any  more  of  them  ; 
I  have  lost  some  'of  them  now  —  one  cup  and 
two  saucers ;  and  the  handle  of  the  pitcher  is 
broken.  Royal  broke  it.  He  said  he  would  pay 
me,  but  he  never  has." 

"  How  was  he  going  to  pay  you  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  said  he  would  make  a  new  nose  for 
d  Margaret.     Her  nose  is  all  worn  off." 

"  A  new  nose !  How  could  he  make  a  new 
}  ? "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  O,  of  putty.  He  said  he  could  make  it  of 
putty,  and  stick  it  on." 

"  Putty  !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Anne.  "  What  a 
boy ! " 

Old  Margaret  was  an  old  doll  that  Lucy  had. 
She  was  not  big  enough  to  take  very  good  care 
of  a  doll,  and  old  Margaret  had  been  tumbled 
about  the  floors  and  carpets  until  she  was  pretty 
well  worn  out.  Still,  however,  Lucy  always  kept 
her,  with  her  other  playthings,  in  her  treasury. 

The  place  which  Lucy  called  her  treasury  was 
a  part  of  a  closet  or  wardrobe,  in  a  back  entry, 
very  near  Miss  Anne's  room.  This  closet  ex- 
tended down  to  the  floor,  and  upwards  nearly  to 
the  wall.  There  were  two  doors  above,  and  two 
below.     The   lower  part   had  been   assigned   to 


THE    TREASURY.  15 

Lucy,  to  keep  her  playthings  and  her  various 
treasures  in  ;  and  it  was  called  her  treasury. 

Her  treasury  was  not  kept  in  very  good  order. 
The  upper  shelf  contained  books,  and  the  two 
lower,  playthings.  But  all  three  of  the  shelves 
were  in  a  state  of  sad  disorder.  And  this  was  the 
reason  why  Miss  Anne  asked  her  about  it. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  is  the 
very  difficulty,  I  know.  I  have  got  too  many 
things  in  my  treasury ;  and  if  you  will  keep  my 
best  things  for  me,  then  I  shall  have  room  for  the 
rest.     I'll  run  and  get  my  tea  things." 

"  But  stop,"  said  Miss  Anne.  It  seems  to  me 
that  you  had  better  keep  your  best  things  your- 
self, and  put  the  others  away  somewhere." 

"  But  where  shall  I  put  them  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"Why,  you  might  carry  them  up  garret,  and 
put  them  in  a  box.  Take  out  all  the  broken 
playthings,  and  the  old  papers,  and  the  things  of 
no  value,  and  put  them  in  a  box,  and  then  we 
will  get  Royal  to  nail  a  cover  on  it." 

"  Well,  — ■  if  I  only  had  a  box,"  said  Lucy. 

"  And  then,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  after  a 
good  while,  when  you  have  forgotten  all  about  the 
box,  and  have  got  tired  of  your  playthings  in  the 
treasuiy,  I  can  say,  '  O  Lucy,  don't  you  re- 
member you  have  got  a  box  full  of  playthings  up  in 


16  lucy's  conversations. 

the  garret  ? '  And  then  you  can  go  up  there,  and 
Royal  will  draw  out  the  nails,  and  take  off  the 
cover,  and  you  can  look  them  all  over,  and  they 
will  be  new  again." 

"  O  aunt  Anne,  will  they  be  really  new 
again?"  said  Lucy;  "would  old  Margaret  be 
new  again  if  I  should  nail  her  up  in  a  box  ?  " 

Lucy  thought  that  neio  meant  nice,  and  whole, 
and  clean,  like  things  when  they  are  first  bought 
at  the  toy-shop  or  bookstore. 

Miss  Anne  laughed  at  this  mistake ;  for  she 
meant  that  they  would  be  new  to  her;  that  is, 
that  she  would  have  forgotten  pretty  much  how 
they  looked,  and  that  she  would  take  a  new  and 
fresh  interest  in.  looking  at  them. 

Lucy  looked  a  little  disappointed-  when  Anne 
explained  that  this  was  her  meaning;  but  she 
said  that  she  would  carry  up  some  of  the  things 
to  the  garret,  if  she  only  had  a  box  to  put  them  in. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  presumed  that  she 
could  find  some  box  or  old  trunk  up  there ;  and 
she  gave  Lucy  a  basket  to  put  the  things  into, 
that  were  to  be  carried  up. 

So  Lucy  took  the  basket,  and  carried  it  into  the 
entry  ;  and  she  opened  the  doors  of  her  treasury, 
and  placed  the  basket  down  upon  the  floor  be- 
fore it 


THE    TREASURY.  17 

Then  she  kneeled  down  herself  upon  the  car- 
pet, and  began  to  take  a  survey  of  the  scene  of 
confusion  before  her. 

She  took  out  several  blocks,  which  were  lying 
upon  the  lower  shelf,  and  also  some  large  sheets 
of  paper  with  great  letters  printed  upon  them. 
Her  father  had  given  them  to  her  to  cut  the  let- 
ters out,  and  paste  them  into  little  books.  Next 
came  a  saucer,  with  patches  of  red,  blue,  green, 
and  yellow,  all  over  it,  made  with  water  colors, 
from  Miss  Anne's  paint-box.  She  put  these 
things  into  the  basket,  and  then  sat  still  for  some 
minutes,  not  knowing  what  to  take  next.  Not 
being  able  to  decide  herself,  she  went  back  to  ask 
Miss  Anne. 

"  What  things  do  you  think  I  had  better  carry 
away,  Miss  Anne  ?  "  said  she.  "  I  can't  tell  very 
well." 

"  I  don't  know  what  tilings  you  have  got  there, 
exactly,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  but  I  can  tell  you 
what  kind  of  things  I  should  take  away." 

"  Well,  what  kind  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  should  take  the  bulky  things." 

"  Bulky  things !  "  said  Lucy  ;  "  what  are  bulky 
things  ? " 

"  Why,  big  things  —  those  that  take  up  a  great 
deal  of  room." 

2* 


18  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Well,  what  other  kinds  of  things,  Miss  Anne  ? " 

"  The  useless  tilings." 

"  Useless  ?  "  repeated  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  those  that  you  do  not  use  much." 

"  Well,  what  others  ?  " 

"  All  the  old,  broken  things." 

"  Well,  and  what  else  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  think,"  replied  Miss  Anne,  "  tliat  ii 
you  take  away  all  those,  you  will  then  probably 
have  room  enough  for  the  rest.  At  any  rate,  go 
and  get  a  basket  full  of  such  as  I  have  told  you, 
and  we  will  see  how  much  room  it  makes." 

So  Lucy  went  back,  and  began  to  take  out 
some  of  the  broken,  and  useless,  and  large  things, 
and  at  length  filled  her  basket  full.  Then  she 
carried  them  in  to  show  to  Miss  Anne.  Miss 
Anne  looked  them  over,  and  took  out  some  old 
papers  which  were  of  no  value  whatever,  and 
then  told  Lucy,  that,  if  she  would  carry  them  up 
stairs,  and  put  them  down  upon  the  garret  floor, 
she  would  herself  come  up  by  and  by,  and  find  a 
box  to  put  them  in.  Lucy  did  so,  and  then  came 
down,  intending  to  get  another  basket  full. 

As  she  was  descending  the  stairs,  coming  down 
carefully  from  step  to  step,  with  one  hand  upon 
the  banisters,  and  the  other  holding  her  basket, 
singing  a  little  song,  —  her  mother,  who  was  at 


THE    TREASURY.  19 

work  in  the  parlor,  heard  her,  aad  came  out  into 
the  entry. 

"  Ah,  my  little  Miss  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  I've 
found  you,  have  I  ?  Just  come  into  the  parlor  a 
minute ;  I  want  to  show  you  something." 

Lucy's  mother  smiled  when  she  said  this ;  and 
Lucy  could  not  imagine  what  it  was  that  she 
wanted  to  show  her. 

As  soon,  however,  as  she  got  into  the  room, 
her  mother  stopped  by  the  door,  and  pointed  to 
the  little  chairs  and  crickets  which  Lucy  had  left 
out  upon  the  floor  of  the  room,  when  she  had  dis- 
missed her  school.  The  rule  was,  that  she  must 
always  put  away  all  the  chairs  and  furniture  of 
every  kind  which  she  used  in  her  play ;  and, 
when  she  forgot  or  neglected  this,  her  punishment 
was,  to  be  imprisoned  for  ten  minutes  upon  a  little 
cricket  in  the  corner,  with  nothing  to  amuse  her- 
self with  but  a  book.  And  a  book  was  not  much 
amusement  for  her  ;  for  she  could  not  read ;  she 
only  knew  a  few  of  her  letters. 

As  soon,  therefore,  as  she  saw  her  mother  point- 
ing at  the  crickets  and  chairs,  she  began  at  once 
to  excuse  herself  by  saying, 

"  Well,  mother,  that  is  because  I  was  doing 
something   for  Miss  Anne.  —  No,   it   is  because 


20  LUCy's    CONVERSATIONS. 

Royal   made  me  go  away  from  my  school,  be- 
fore it  was  done." 

"  Royal  made  you  go  away  !  how  ?  "  asked  her 
mother. 

"  Why,  he  laughed  at  me,  and  so  I  ran  after 
him ;  and  then  Miss  Anne  took  me  into  her  room 
and  I  forgot  all  about  my  chairs  and  crickets." 

"  Well,  I  am  sorry  for  you  ;  but  you  must  put 
them  away,  and  then  go  to  prison." 

So  Lucy  put  away  her  crickets  and  chairs,  and 
then  went  and  took  her  seat  in  the  corner  where 
she  could  see  the  clock,  and  began  to  look  over 
her  book  to  find  such  letters  as  she  knew,  until 
the  minute-hand  had  passed  over  two  of  the  five- 
minute  spaces  upon  the  face  of  the  clock.  Then 
she  got  up  and  went  out ;  and,  hearing  Royal's 
voice  in  the  yard,  she  went  out  to  see  what  he 
was  doing,  and  forgot  all  about  the  work  she  had 
undertaken  at  her  treasury.  Miss  Anne  sat  in 
her  room  two  hours,  wondering  what  had  become 
of  Lucy  ;  and  finally,  when  she  came  out  of  her 
room  to  see  about  getting  tea,  she  shut  the  treasury 
doors,  and,  seeing  the  basket  upon  the  stairs,  where 
Lucy  had  left  it,  she  took  it  and  put  it  away  in 
its  place. 


DEFINITIONS.  21 

CONVERSATION    II. 
DEFINITIONS. 

A  few  days  after  this,  Lucy  came  into  Miss 
<\nne's  room,  bringing  a  little  gray  kitten  in  her 
arms.  She  asked  Miss  Anne  if  she  would  not 
make  her  a  rolling  mouse,  for  her  kitten  to  play 
with. 

Miss  Anne  had  a  way  of  unwinding  a  ball  of 
yarn  a  little,  and  then  fastening  it  with  a  pin,  so 
that  it  would  not  unwind  any  farther.  Then 
Lucy  could  take  hold  of  the  end  of  the  yarn,  and 
roll  the  ball  about  upon  the  floor,  and  let  the 
kitten  run  after  it.     She  called  it  her  rolling  mouse. 

Miss  Anne  made  her  a  mouse,  and  Lucy  played 
with  it  for  some  time.  At  last  the  kitten  scam- 
pered away,  and  Lucy  could  not  find  her.  Then 
Anne  proposed  to  Lucy  that  she  should  finish  the 
work  of  re-arranging  her  treasury. 

"  Let  me  see,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  if  you  re- 
member what  I  told  you  the  other  day.  What 
were  the  kinds  of  things  that  I  advised  you  to 
cany  away  ?  " 


22  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Why,  there  were  the  sulky  things." 

"  The  what !  "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  No,  "he  big  things,  —  the  big  things,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  The  bulky  things,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  not 
the  sulky  things  !  " 

"  Well,  it  sounded  like  sulky,"  said  Lucy ; 
"  but  I  thought  it  was  not  exactly  that." 

"  No,  not  exactly,  —  but  it  was  not  a  very  great 
mistake.  I  said  useless  things,  and  bulky  things, 
and  you  got  the  sounds  confounded." 

"  Con —  what  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Confounded,  — ■  that  is,  mixed  together.  Yob 
got  the  s  sound  of  useless,  instead  of  the  b  sound 
of  bulky ;  but  bulky  and  sulky  mean  veiy  different 
things." 

"  What  does  sulky  mean  ?  I  know  that  bulky 
means  big." 

"  Sulkiness  is  a  kind  of  ill-humor." 

"What  kind?" 

"  Why,  it  is  the  silent  kind.  If  a  little  girl, 
who  is  out  of  humor,  complains  and  cries,  we  say 
she  is  fretful  or  cross;  but  if  she  goes  away 
pouting  and  still,  but  yet  plainly  out  of  humor, 
they  sometimes  say  she  is  sulky.  A  good  many 
of  your  playthings  are  bulky ;  but  I  don't  think 


DEFINITIONS.  23 

any  of  them  are  sulky,  unless  it  be  old  Marga 
ret.     Does  she  ever  get  out  of  humor  ? " 

"  Sometimes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  then  1  shut 
her  up  in  a  corner.  Would  you  carry  old  Mar- 
garet up  garret  ? " 

"  Why,  she  takes  up  a  good  deal  of  room,  does 
not  she  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  ever  so  much  room.  1 
cannot  make  her  sit  up,  and  she  lies  down  all  over 
my  cups  and  saucers." 

"  Then  I  certainly  would  carry  her  up  garret." 

"  And  would  you  carry  up  her  bonnet  and 
shawl  too  ? " 

"  Yes,  all  that  belongs  to  her." 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  whenever  I  want  to 
play  with  her,  I  shall  have  to  go  away  up  garret, 
to  get  all  her  things." 

"  Very  well ;  you  can  do  just  as  you  think  best." 

"  Well,  would  you  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  I  should,  myself,  if  I  were  in  your  case ;  and 
only  keep  such  things  in  my  treasury  as  are  neat, 
and  whole,  and  in  good  order." 

"  But  I  play  with  old  Margaret  a  great  deal,  — 
almost  every  day,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Perhaps,  then,  you  had  better  not  carry  her 
away.  Do  just  which  you  think  you  shall  like 
best." 


24  lucy's  conversations. 

Lucy  began  to  walk  towards  the  door.  She 
moved  quite  slowly,  because  she  was  uncertain 
whether  to  cany  her  old  doll  up  stairs  or  not. 
Presently  she  turned  around  again,  and  said, 

"  Well,  Miss  Anne,  which  would  you  do  ? " 

"  I  have  told  you  that  /  should  carry  her  up 
stairs ;  but  I'll  tell  you  what  you  can  do.  You 
can  play  that  she  has  gone  away  on  a  visit ;  and 
so  let  her  stay  up  garret  a  few  days,  and  then,  if 
you  find  you  cannot  do  without  her,  you  can  make 
believe  that  you  must  send  for  her  to  come  home." 

"  So  I  can,"  said  Lucy ;  "  that  will  be  a  good 
plan." 

Lucy  went  immediately  to  the  treasuiy,  and 
took  old  Margaret  out,  and  everything  that  be- 
longed to  her.  This  almost  made  a  basket  full, 
and  she  carried  it  off  up  stairs.  Then  she  came 
back,  and  got  another  basket  full,  and  another, 
until  at  last  she  had  removed  nearly  half  of  the 
things ;  and  then  she  thought  that  there  would  be' 
plenty  of  room  to  keep  the  rest  in  order.  And 
every  basket  full  which  she  had  carried  up,  she 
had  always  brought  first  to  Miss  Anne,  to  let  her 
look  over  the  things,  and  see  whether  they  had 
better  all  go.  Sometimes  Lucy  had  got  some- 
thing in  her  basket  which  Miss  Anne  thought  had 
better  remain,  and  be  kept  in  the  treasury ;  and 


DEFINITIONS.  25 

some  of  the  things  Miss  Anne  said  were  good  for 
nothing  at  all,  and  had  better  be  burnt,  or  thrown 
away,  such  as  old  papers,  and  some  shapeless 
blocks,  and  broken  bits  of  china  ware.  At  last 
the  work  was  all  done,  the  basket  put  away,  and 
Lucy  came  and  sat  down  by  Miss  Anne. 

"Well,  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  '-'you  have 
been  quite  industrious  and  persevering." 

Lucy  did  not  know  exactly  what  Miss  Anne 
meant  by  these  words ;  but  she  knew  by  her 
countenance  and  her  tone  of  voice,  that  it  was 
something  in  her  praise. 

"  But  perhaps  you  do  not  know  what  I  mean, 
exactly,"  she  added. 

"  No,  not  exactly,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  a  girl  is  industrious  when  she  keeps 
steadily  at  work  all  the  time,  until  her  work  is 
done.  If  you  had  stopped  when  you  had  got 
your  basket  half  full,  and  had  gone  to  playing 
with  the  things,  you  would  not  have  been  indus- 
trious." 

"  I  did,  a  little,  —  with  my  guinea  peas,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  It  is  best,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  when  you  have 
anything  like  that  to  do,  to  keep  industriously  at 
work  until  it  is  finished." 
3 


26  lucy's  conversations. 

"  But  I  only  wanted  to  look  at  my  guinea  peas 
a  little." 

"  O,  I  don't  think  that  was  very  wrong,"  said 
Miss  Anne.  "  Only  it  would  have  been  a  little 
better  if  you  had  put  them  back  upon  the  shelf, 
and  said,  '  Now,  as  soon  as  I  have  finished  my 
work,  then  I'll  take  out  my  guinea  peas  and  look 
at  them.'  You  would  have  enjoyed  looking  at 
them  more  when  your  work  was  done." 

"  You  said  that  I  was  something  else  besides 
industrious." 

"  Yes,  persevering,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

«  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  is  keeping  on  steadily  at  your 
work,  and  not  giving  it  up  until  it  is  entirely  fin- 
ished." 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  thought 
that  was  industrious." 

Here  Miss  Anne  began  to  laugh,  and  Lucy 
said, 

"  Now,  what  are  you  laughing  at,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 
She  thought  that  she  was  laughing  at  her. 

"  O,  I  am  not  laughing  at  you,  but  at  my  own 
definitions." 

"Definitions!  What  are  definitions,  Miss 
Anne  ? "  said  Lucy. 


DEFINITIONS.  27 

"  Why,  explanations  of  the  meanings  of  words. 
5fou  asked  me  what  was  the  meaning  of  indus- 
trious and  persevering ;  and  I  tried  to  explain 
them  to  you  ;  that  is,  to  tell  you  the  definition  of 
them  ;  but  I  gave  pretty  much  the  same  definition 
for  both  ;  when,  in  fact,  they  mean  quite  different 
things." 

"  Tli en  why  did  not  you  give  me  different  def- 
initions, Miss  Anne  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"It  is  very  hard  to  give  good  definitions," 
said  she. 

"  I  should  not  think  it  would  be  hard.  I  should 
think,  if  you  knew  what  the  words  meant,  you 
could  just  tell  me." 

"  I  can  tell  you  in  another  way,"  said  Miss. 
Anne.  "  Suppose  a  boy  should  be  sent  into  the 
pasture  to  find  the  cow,  and  should  look  about  a 
little  while,  and  then  come  home  and  say  that  he 
could  not  find  her,  when  he  had  only  looked  over 
a  very  small  part  of  the  pasture.  He  would  not 
be  persevering.  Perhaps  there  was  a  brook,  and 
some  woods  that  he  ought  to  go  through  and  look 
beyond;  but  he  gave  up,  we  will  suppose,  and 
thought  he  would  not  go  over  the  brook,  but 
would  rather  come  home  and  say  that  he  could 
not  find  the  cow.  Now,  a  boy,  in  such  a  case, 
would  not  be  persevering.^ 


28  LUCK"  S    CONVERSATIONS. 

i:  I  should  have  liked  to  go  over  the  brook," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  no  doubt ;  but  we 
may  suppose  that  he  had  been  over  it  so  often, 
chat  he  did  not  care  about  going  again,  —  and  so 
ne  turned  back  and  came  home,  without  having 
finished  his  work." 

"  His  work  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  —  his  duty,  of  looking  for  the  cow  until 
he  found  her.  He  was  sent  to  find  the  cow,  but 
he  did  not  do  it.  He  became  discouraged,  and 
gave  up  too  easily.  He  did  not  persevere.  Per- 
haps he  kept  looking  about  all  the  time,  while  he 
was  in  the  pasture ;  and  went  into  all  the  little 
groves  and  valleys  where  the  cow  might  be  hid : 
and  so  he  was  industrious  while  he  was  look- 
ing for  the  cow,  but  he  did  not  persevere. 

"  And  so  you  see,  Lucy,"  continued  Miss  Anne, 
"  a  person  might  persevere  without  being  indus- 
trious. For  once  there  was  a  girl  named  Julia. 
She  had  a  flower-garden.  She  went  out  one 
morning  to  weed  it.  She  pulled  up  some  of  the 
weeds,  and  then  she  went  off  to  see  a  butterfly ; 
and  after  a  time  she  came  back,  and  worked  a 
little  longer.  Then  some  children  came  to  see 
her  ;  and  she  sat  down  upon  a  seat,  and  talked  with 
tli em  some  time,  and  left  her  work.     In  this  way, 


DEFINITIONS.  29 

she  kept  continually  stopping  to  play.     She  was 
not  industrious." 

"  And  did  she  persevere  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  She  persevered. 
For  when  the  other  children  wanted  her  to  go 
away  with  them  and  play,  she  would  not.  She 
said  she  did  not  mean  to  go  out  of  the  garden 
until  she  had  finished  weeding  her  flowers.  So 
after  the  children  had  gone  away,  she  went  hac1 
to  her  work,  and  after  a  time  she  got  it  done. 
She  was  persevering ;  that  is,  she  would  not  give 
up  what  she  had  undertaken  until  it  was  finished  ; 
—  but  she  was  not  industrious ;  that  is,  she  did 
not  work  all  the  time  steadily,  while  she  was  en- 
gaged in  doing  it.  It  would  have  been  better  for 
her  to  have  been  industrious  and  persevering  too, 
for  then  she  would  have  finished  her  work  sooner." 

As  Miss  Anne  said  these  words,  she  heard  a 
voice  out  in  the  yard  calling  to  her, 

"Miss  Anne!" 

Miss  Anne  looked  out  at  the  window  to  see 
who  it  was.     It  was  Royal. 

"  Is  Lucy  in  there  with  you  ?  "  asked  Royal. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  was ;  and  at  the  same 
time,    Lucy,   who   heard  Royal's   voice,  ran   to 
another  window,  and  climbed  up  into  a  chair,  so 
that  she  could  look  out. 
3* 


30  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  "  come  out  here." 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  can't  come  now. 
Miss  Anne  is  telling  me  stories." 

Royal  was  seated  on  a  large,  flat  stone,  which 
had  been  placed  in  a  comer  of  the  yard,  under 
some  trees,  for  a  seat ;  he  was  cutting  a  stick  with 
his  knife.  His  cap  was  lying  upon  the  stone,  by 
his  side.  When  Lucy  said  that  she  could  not 
come  out,  he  put  his  hand  down  upon  his  cap, 
and  said, 

"  Come  out  and  see  what  I've  got  under  my 
cap." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  can't  tell  you ;  it  is  a  secret.  If  you  will 
come  out,  I  will  let  you  see  it." 

"  Do  tell  me  what  it  is." 

"  No,"  said  Royal. 

"  Tell  me  something  about  it,"  said  Lucy,  "  at 
any  rate." 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  I  will  tell  you  one 
thing.     It  is  not  a  bird." 

Lucy  concluded  that  it  must  be  some  curious 
animal  or  other,  if  it  was  not  a  bird ;  and  so  she 
told  Miss  Anne  that  she  believed  she  would  go 
out  and  see,  and  then  she  would  come  in  again 
directly,  and  hear  the  rest  that  she  had  to  say. 
So  she  went  out  to  see  what  Royal  had  got  under 
his  cap. 


DEFINITIONS;  33 

Miss  Anne  suspected  that  Royal  had  not  got 
anything  under  his  cap ;  but  that  it  was  only  his 
contrivance  to  excite  Lucy's  curiosity,  and  induce 
her  to  come  out. 

And  this  {urned  out  to  be  the  fact ;  for  when 
Lucy  went  up  to  where  Royal  was  sitting,  and 
asked  him  what  it  was,  he  just  lifted  up  his  cap, 
and  said,  it  was  that  monstrous,  great,  flat  stone  ! 

At  first,  Lucy  was  displeased,  and  was  going 
directly  back  into  the  house  again ;  but  Royal 
told  her  that  he  was  making  a  windmill,  and  that, 
if  she  would  stay  there  and  keep  him  company, 
he  would  let  her  run  with  it,  when  it  was  done. 
So  Lucy  concluded  to  remain. 


34  lucy's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION   III. 
THE   GLEN. 

Behind  the  house  that  Lucy  lived  in,  there 
was  a  path,  winding  among  trees,  which  was  a  very 
pleasant  path  to  take  a  walk  in.  Lucy  and  Roy- 
al often  went  to  take  a  walk  there.  They  almost 
always  went  that  way  when  Miss  Anne  could  go 
with  them,  for  she  liked  the  place  very  much.  It 
led  to  a  strange  sort  of  a  place,  where  there  were 
trees,  and  high,  rocky  banks,  and  a  brook  ■  running 
along  in  the  middle,  with  a  broad  plank  to  go 
across.     Miss  Anne  called  it  the  glen. 

One  morning  Miss  Anne  told  Lucy  that  she 
was  going  to  be  busy  for  two  hours,  and  that  after 
that  she  was  going  to  take  a  walk  down  to  the 
glen ;  and  that  Lucy  might  go  with  her,  if  she 
would  like  to  go.  Of  course  Lucy  liked  the  plan 
very  much.  When  the  time  arrived,  they  set  off, 
going  out  through  the  garden  gate.  Miss  Anne 
had  a  parasol  m  one  hand  and  a  book  in  the  other. 
Lucy  ran  along  before  her,  and  opened  the  gate. 

They  heard  a  voice  behind  them  calling  out, 


THE    GLEN.  35 

"  Miss  Anne,  where  are  you  going  ? " 

They  looked  round.  It  was  Royal,  sitting  at 
the  window  of  a  little  room,  where  he  used  to 
study. 

"  We  are  going  to  take  a  walk,  —  down  to  the 
glen,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  I  wish  you  would  wait  for  me,"  said  Royal, 
"only  a  few  minutes ;  the  sand  is  almost  out." 

He  meant  the  sand  of  his  hour-glass  ;  for  he  had 
an  hour-glass  upon  the  table,  in  his  little  room,  to 
measure  the  time  for  study.  He  had  to  study  one 
hour  in  the  afternoon,  and  was  not  allowed  to 
leave  his  room  until  the  sand  had  all  run  out. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  loud  voice,  calling  out 
to  Royal ;  "we  can't  wait." 

"  Perhaps  we  had  better  wait  for  him,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  in  a  low  voice,  to  Lucy.  "  He  would 
like  to  go  with  us.  And,  besides,  he  can  help  you 
across  the  brook." 

Lucy  seemed  a  little  unwilling  to  wait,  but  on 
the  whole  she  consented ;  and  Miss  Anne  sat 
down  upon  a  seat  in  the  garden,  while  Lucy 
played  about  in  the  walks,  until  Royal  came 
down,  with  his  hatchet  in  his  hand.  They  then 
walked  all  along  together. 

When  they  got  to  the  glen,  Miss  Anne  went 
up  a  winding  path  to  a  seat,  where  she  used  to 


36  lucy's  conversations. 

love  to  sit  and  read.  There  was  a  beautiful  pros- 
pect from  it,  all  around.  Royal  and  Lucy  re- 
mained down  in  the  little  valley  to  play ;  but  Miss 
Anne  told  them  that  they  must  not  go  out  of  her 
sight. 

"  But  how  can  we  tell,"  said  Royal,  "  what 
places  you  can  see  ? " 

"  O,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  look  up  now  and  then, 
and  if  you  can  see  me,  in  my  seat,  you  will  be 
safe.     If  you  can  see  me,  I  can  see  you." 

"  Come,"  said  Royal,  "  let  us  go  down  to  the 
bridge,  and  go  across  the  brook." 

The  plank  which  Royal  called  a  bridge,  was 
down  below  the  place  where  Miss  Anne  went  up 
to  her  seat,  and  Royal  and  Lucy  began  to  walk 
along  slowly  towards  it. 

"  But  I  am  afraid  to  go  over  that  plank,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Afraid  !  "  said  Royal ;  "  you  need  not  be 
afraid ;  it  is  not  dangerous." 

"  I  think  it  is  dangerous,"  said  Lucy ;  "  it  bends 
a  great  deal." 

"  Bends !  "  exclaimed  Royal ;  "  the  bending 
does  no  harm.  I  will  lead  you  over  as  safe  as 
dry  ground.  Besides,  there  is  something  over 
there  that  I  want  to  show  you." 

"What  is  it?"  said  Lucy. 


THE    GLEN.  37 

"  O,  something,"  said  Royal. 

"  I  don't  believe  there  is  anything  at  all,'5  said 
Lucy, "  any  more  than  there  was  under  your  cap." 

"  O  Lucy !  there  was  something  under  my 
cap." 

"  No,  there  wasn't,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  that  great,  flat  stone." 

"Li  your  cap,  I  mean,"  said  Lucy;  "that 
wasn't  in  your  cap." 

"  In  I "  said  Royal ;  "  that  is  a  very  different 
sort  of  a  preposition." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  a  preposi- 
tion," said  Lucy ;  "  but  I  know  you  told  me  there 
was  something  in  your  cap,  and  that  is  what  I 
came  out  to  see." 

"  Under,  Lucy ;  I  said  under." 

"Well,  you  meant  in;  I  verily  believe  you 
meant  in." 

Lucy  was  right.  Royal  did  indeed  say  under, 
but  he  meant  to  have  her  understand  that  there 
was  something  in  his  cap,  and  lying  upon  the 
great,  flat  stone. 

"  And  so  you  told  me  a  falsehood,"  said  Lucy. 

"  O  Lucy  ! "  said  Royal,  "  I  would  not  tell  a 
falsehood  for  all  the  world." 

"  Yes,  you  told  me  a  falsehood ;  and  now  I 
don't  believe  you  about  anything  over  the  brook. 
4 


38  lucy's  conversations. 

For  Miss  Anne  told  me,  one  day,  that  when  any- 
body told  a  falsehood,  we  must  not  believe  them, 
even  if  they  tell  the  truth." 

"  O  Lucy  !  Lucy !  "  said  Royal,  "  I  don't  be- 
lieve she  ever  said  any  such  a  word." 

"  Yes  she  did,"  said  Lucy.  But  Lucy  said 
this  rather  hesitatingly,  for  she  felt  some  doubt 
whether  she  was  quoting  what  Miss  Anne  had 
told  her,  quite  correctly. 

Here,  however,  the  children  arrived  at  the  bridge, 
and  Royal  was  somewhat  at  a  loss  what  to  do. 
He  wanted  very  much  to  go  over,  and  to  have 
Lucy  go  over  too ;  but  by  his  not  being  perfectly 
honest  before,  about  what  was  under  his  cap, 
Lucy  had  lost  her  confidence  in  him,  and  would 
not  believe  what  he  said.  At  first  he  thought 
that  if  she  would  not  go  with  him,  he  would 
threaten  to  go  off  and  leave  her.  But  in  a  mo- 
ment he  reflected  that  this  would  make  her  cry, 
and  that  would  cause  Miss  Anne  to  come  down 
from  her  seat,  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  which 
might  lead  to  ever  so  much  difficulty.  Besides,  he 
thought  that  he  had  not  done  exactly  right  about 
the  cap  stoiy,  and  so  he  determined  to  treat  Lucy 
kindly. 

i:  If  I  manage  gently  with  her,"  said  he  to  him- 
self, "  she  will  want  to  come  across  herself  pretty 
soon." 


THE    GLEN.  39 

Accordingly,  when  Royal  got  to  the  plank,  he 
said, 

"  Well,  Lucy,  if  you  had  rather  stay  on  this 
side,  you  can.  I  want  to  go  over,  but  I  won't  go 
very  far ;  and  you  can  play  about  here." 

So  Royal  went  across  upon  the  plank ;  when 
he  had  got  to  the  middle  of  it,  he  sprang  up  and 
down  upon  it  with  his  whole  weight,  in  order  to 
show  Lucy  how  strong  it  was.  He  then  walked 
along  by  the  bank,  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
brook,  and  began  to  look  into  the  water,  watching 
for  fishes. 

Lucy's  curiosity  became  considerably  excited  by 
what  Royal  was  constantly  saying  about  his  fishes. 
First  he  said  he  saw  a  dozen  little  fishes ;  then, 
going  a  little  farther,  he  saw  two  pretty  big 
ones ;  and  Lucy  came  down  to  the  bank  upon 
her  side  of  the  brook,  but  she  could  not  get  very 
near,  on  account  of  the  bushes.  She  had  a  great 
mind  to  ask  Royal  to  come  and  help  her  across, 
when  all  at  once  he  called  out  very  eagerly, 

"  O  Lucy  !  Lucy !  here  is  a  great  turtle,  — >  a 
monster  of  a  turtle,  as  big  as  the  top  of  my  head 
Here  he  goes,  paddling  along  over  the  stones." 

"  Where  ?  where  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  Let  me  see, 
Come  and  help  me  across,  Royal." 

Royal  ran  back  to  the  plank,  keeping  a  watch 


40  lucy's  conversations. 

over  the  turtle,  as  well  as  he  could,  all  the  time. 
He  helped  Lucy  across,  and  then  they  ran  up  to 
the  place,  and  Royal  pointed  into  the  water. 

"  There,  Lucy !  See  there  !  A  real  turtle  !  See 
his  tail !    It  is  as  sharp  as  a  dagger." 

It  was  true.  There  was  a  real  turtle  resting 
upon  the  sand  in  a  shallow  place  in  the  water. 
His  head  and  his  four  paws  were  projecting  out 
of  his  shell,  and  his  long,  pointed  tail,  like  a  rud- 
der, floated  in  the  water  behind. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  I  see  him.  I  see  his 
head." 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  "  we  must  not  let 
him  get  away.  We  must  make  a  pen  for  him.  I 
can  make  a  pen.  You  stay  here  and  watch  him, 
while  I  go  and  get  ready  to  make  a  pen." 

"  How  can  you  make  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  you'll  see,"  said  Royal ;  and  he  took  up 
his  hatchet,  which  he  had  before  laid  down  upon 
the  grass,  and  went  into  the  bushes,  and  began 
cutting,  as  if  he  was  cutting  some  of  them  down. 

Lucy  remained  some  time  watching  the  turtle. 
He  lay  quite  still,  with  his  head  partly  out  of  the 
water.  The  sun  shone  upon  the  place,  and  per 
haps  that  was  the  reason  why  he  remained  s< 
still ;  for  turtles  are  said  to  like  to  bask  in  th» 
beams  of  the  sun. 


THE    GLEN.  4i 

After  a  time,  Royal  came  to  the  place  with  an 
armful  of  stakes,  about  three  feet  long.  He  threw 
tli em  down  upon  the  bank,  and  then  began  to 
look  around  for  a  suitable  place  to  build  his  pen. 
He  chose,  at  last,  a  place  in  the  water,  near  the 
shore.  The  water  there  was  not  deep,  and  the 
bottom  was  sandy. 

"  This  will  be  a  good  place,"  he  said  to  Lucy. 
"  I  will  make  his  pen  here." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  make  it  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  am  going  to  drive  these  stakes  down 
in  a  kind  of  a  circle,  so  near  together  that  he  can't 
get  out  between  them ;  and  they  are  so  tall  that 
I  know  he  can't  get  over." 

"  And  how  are  you  going  to  get  him  in  ? " 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  shall  leave  one  stake  out,  till  I  get  him 
in,"  answered  Royal.  "  We  can  drive  him  in 
with  long  sticks.  But  you  must  not  mind  me  ; 
you  must  watch  the  turtle,  or  he  will  get  away." 

So  Royal  began  to  drive  the  stakes.  Pres- 
ently Lucy  said  that  the  turtle  was  stirring. 
Royal  looked,  but  he  found  he  was  not  going 
away,  and  so  he  went  on  with  his  work  ;  and  be- 
fore long  he  had  a  place  fenced  in  with  his  stakes, 
about  as  large  round  as  a  boy's  hoop.  It  was 
4* 


42  lucy's  conversations. 

all  fenced,  excepting  in  one  place,  which  he  left 
open  to  get  the  turtle  through. 

The  two  children  then  contrived,  by  means  of 
two  long  sticks,  which  Royal  cut  from  among  the 
bushes,  to  get  the  turtle  into  his  prison.  The 
poor  reptile  hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  such 
treatment.  He  went  tumbling  along  through  the 
water,  half  pushed,  half  driven. 

When  he  was  fairly  in,  Royal  drove  down  the 
last  stake  in  the  vacant  space  which  had  been 
left.  The  turtle  swam  about,  pushing  his  head 
against  the  bars  in  several  places ;  and  when 
he  found  that  he  could  not  get  out,  he  remained 
quietly  in  the  middle. 

"  There,"  said  Royal,  "  that  will  do.  Now  I 
wish  Miss  Anne  would  come  down  here,  and  see 
him.     I  should  like  to  see  what  she  would  say." 

Miss  Anne  did  come  down  after  a  while ; 
and  when  the  children  saw  her  descending  the 
path,  they  called  out  to  her  aloud  to  come  there 
and  see.  She  came,  and  when  she  reached  the 
bank  opposite  to  the  turtle  pen,  she  stood  still  for 
a  few  minutes,  looking  at  it,  with  a  smile  of  cu- 
riosity and  interest  upon  her  face ;  but  she  did  not 
speak  a  word. 


A    PRISONER.  43 

CONVERSATION    IV. 
A    PRISONER. 

After  a  little  while,  they  all  left  the  turtle,  and 
went  rambling  around,  among  the  rocks  and  trees. 
At  last  Royal  called  out  to  them  to  come  to  a 
large  tree,  where  he  was  standing.  He  was  look- 
ing up  into  it.  Lucy  ran  fast ;  she  thought  it 
was  a  bird's  nest.  Miss  Anne  came  along  after- 
wards, singing.  Royal  showed  them  a  long, 
straight  branch,  which  extended  out  horizontally 
from  the  tree,  and  said  that  it  would  be  an  excel- 
lent place  to  make  a  swing. 

"  So  it  would,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  if  we  only 
had  a  rope." 

"  I've  got  a  rope  at  home,"  said  Royal,  "  if 
Lucy  would  only  go  and  get  it,  —  while  I  cut  off 
some  of  the  small  branches,  which  are  in  the 
way. 

"  Come,  Lucy,"  he  continued,  "  go  and  get 
my  rope.     It  is  hanging  up  in  the  shed." 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  can't  reach  it." 

"  O,  you  can  get  a  chair,"  said  Royal;  "or 


44 


LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 


Joanna  will  hand  it  to  you  ;  she  will  be  close  by, 
in  the  kitchen.  Come,  Lucy,  go,  that  is  a  good 
girl ;    and  I'll  pay  you." 

"  What  will  you  give  me  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  don't  know ;  but  I'll  give  you  some- 
thing." 

But  Lucy  did  not  seem  quite  inclined  to  go. 
She  said  she  did  not  want  to  go  so  far  alone  ; 
though,  in  fact,  it  was  only  a  very  short  distance. 
Besides,  she  had  not  much  confidence  in  Royal's 
promise. 

"  Will  you  go,  Lucy,  if  /  will  promise  to  give 
you  something  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy. 

"Well,  I  will,"  said  Miss  Anne;  "I  can't 
tell  you  what,  now,  for  I  don't  know ;  but  it 
shall  be  something  you  will  like. 

"  But,  Royal,"  she  added,  "  what  shall  we  do 
for  a  seat  in  our  swing  ?  " 

"  Why,  we  must  have  a  board  —  a  short 
board,  with  two  notches.  I  know  how  to  cut 
them." 

"  Yes,  if  you  only  had  a  board  ;  but  there  are 
no  boards  down  here.  I  think  you  had  better  go 
with  Lucy,  and  then  you  can  bring  down  s 
board." 

Royal  said  that  it  would  take  some  time  to  saw 


A    PRISONER.  45 

off  the  board,  and  cut  the  notches  ;  and,  finally, 
they  concluded  to  postpone  making  the  swing 
until  the  next  time  they  came  down  to  the  glen  ; 
and  then  they  would  bring  down  whatever  should 
be  necessary,  with  them. 

As  they  were  walking  slowly  along,  after  this, 
towards  home,  Royal  said  something  about  Lu- 
cy's not  being  willing  to  go  for  his  promise,  as 
well  as  for  Miss  Anne's,  —  which  led  to  the  fol- 
lowing conversation  :  — 

Lucy.  I  don't  believe  you  were  going  to  give 
me  anything  at  all. 

Royal.    O  Lucy !  —  I  was,  —  I  certainly  was. 

Lucy.  Then  I  don't  believe  that  it  would  be 
anything  that  I  should  like. 

Royal.  But  I  don't  see  how  you  could  tell 
anything  about  it,  unless  you  knew  what  it  was 
going  to  be. 

Lucy.  I  don't  believe  it  would  be  anything ; 
do  you,  Miss  Anne  ? 

Miss  Anne.  I  don't  know  anything  about  it. 
I  should  not  think  that  Royal  would  break  his 
.promise. 

Lucy.  He  does  break  his  promises.  He  won't 
mend  old  Margaret's  nose. 

Royal.      Well,   Lucy,   that   is    because   my 


46  lucy's  conversations. 

putty  has  all  dried  up.  I  am  going  to  do  it,  just 
as  soon  as  I  can  get  any  more  putty. 

Lucy.  And  that  makes  me  think  about  the 
thing  in  your  cap.  I  mean  to  ask  Miss  Anne  if 
you  did  not  tell  a  falsehood.  He  said  there  was 
something  in  his  cap,  and  there  was  nothing  in 
it  at  all.     It  was  only  on  the  great,  flat  stone. 

Royal.  O,  under,  Lucy,  under.  I  certainly 
said  under. 

Lucy.  Well,  you  meant  in ;  I  know  you  did. 
Wasn't  it  a  falsehood  ? 

Miss  Anne.     Did  he  say  in,  or  tinder  ? 

Royal.     Under,  under ;  it  was  certainly  under. 

Miss  Anne.  Then  I  don't  think  it  was  exact- 
ly a  falsehood. 

Lucy.  Well,  it  was  as  bad  as  a  falsehood,  at 
any  rate. 

Royal.  Was  it  as  bad  as  a  falsehood,  Miss 
Anne  ? 

Miss  Anne.  Let  us  consider  a  little.  Lucy, 
what  do  you  think  ?  Suppose  he  had  said  that 
there  was  really  something  in  his  cap,  —  do  you 
think  it  would  have  been  no  worse  ? 

Lucy.     I  don't  know. 

]\Ess  Anne.  I  think  it  would  have  been  worse. 

Royal.     Yes,  a  great  deal  worse. 


A    PRISONER.  47 

Miss  Anne.  He  deceived  you,  perhaps,  but  he 
did  not  tell  a  falsehood. 

Lucy.  Well,  Miss  Anne,  and  isn't  it  wrong 
for  him  to  deceive  me  ? 

Miss  Anne.    I  think  it  was  unwise,  at  any  rate 

Royal.  Why  was  it  unwise,  Miss  Anne?  I 
wanted  her  to  come  out,  and  I  knew  she  would 
like  to  be  out  there,  if  she  would  only  once  come. 
Besides,  I  thought  it  would  make  her  laugh  when 
I  came  to  lift  up  my  cap  and  show  her  that  great, 
flat  stone. 

Miss  Anne.     And  did  she  laugh  ? 

Royal.  Why,  not  much.  She  said  she  meant 
to  go  right  into  the  house  again. 

Miss  Anne.  Instead  of  being  pleased  with  the 
wit,  she  was  displeased  at  being  imposed  upon. 

Royal  laughed. 

Miss  Anne.  The  truth  is,  Royal,  that,  though 
it  is  rather  easier,  sometimes,  to  get  along  by  wit 
than  by  honesty,  yet  you  generally  have  to 
pay  for  it  afterwards.    • 

Royal.     How  do  we  have  to  pay  for  it  ? 

Miss  Anne.  Why,  Lucy  has  lost  her  confi- 
dence in  you.  You  cannot  get  her  to  go  and  get 
a  rope  for  you  by  merely  promising  her  something, 
while  I  can.  She  confides  in  me,  and  not  in 
you.     She  is  afraid  you  will  find  some  ingenious 


48  lucy's  conversations. 

escape  or  other  from  fulfilling  it.  Wit  gives  any- 
body a  present  advantage,  but  honesty  gives  a  last- 
ing power;  so  that  the  influence  I  have  over 
Lucy,  by  always  being  honest  with  her,  is  worth 
a  great  deal  more  than  all  you  can  accomplish 
with  your  contrivances.  So  I  think  you  had  bet- 
ter keep  your  wits  and  your  contrivances  for  tur- 
tles, and  always  be  honest  with  men. 

Royal.     Men  !     Lucy  isn't  a  man. 

Miss  Anne.  I  mean  mankind  —  men,  women, 
and  children. 

Royal.  Well,  about  my  turtle,  Miss  Anne. 
Do  you  think  that  I  can  keep  him  in  his  pen  ? 

Miss  Anne.     Yes,  unless  he  digs  out. 

Royal.     Dig  ?  —  Can  turtles  dig  much  ? 

Miss  Anne.  I  presume  they  can  work  into 
mud,  and  sand,  and  soft  ground. 

Royal.  Then  I  must  get  a  great,  flat  stone, 
and  put  into  the  bottom  of  his  pen.  He  can't  dig 
through  that. 

Miss  Anne.  I  should  rather  make  his  pen 
larger,  and  then  perhaps  he  won't  want  to  get  out. 
You  might  find  some  cove  in  the  brook,  where  the 
water  is  deep,  for  him,  and  then  drive  your  stakes 
in  the  shallow  water  all  around  it.  And  then,  if 
you  choose,  you  could  extend  it  up  upon  the 
shore,  and  so  let  him  have  a  walk  upon  the  land, 


A    PRISONER.  49 

within  his  bounds.  Then,  perhaps,  sometimes, 
when  you  come  down  to  see  him,  you  may  find 
him  up  upon  the  grass,  sunning  himself. 

Royal.  Yes,  that  I  shall  like  very  much.  It 
will  take  a  great  many  stakes ;  but  I  can  cut  them 
with  my  hatchet.  I'll  call  it  my  turtle  pasture. 
Perhaps  I  shall  find  some  more  to  put  in. 

Lucy.  I  don't  think  it  is  yours,  altogether, 
Royal. 

Royal.     Why,  I  found  him. 

Lucy.  Yes,  but  I  watched  him  for  you,  or 
else  he  would  have  got  away.  I  think  you  ought 
.o  let  me  own  a  share. 

Royal.  But  I  made  the  pen  altogether  my- 
self. 

Lucy.     And  I  helped  you  drive  the  turtle  in. 

Royal.  O  Lucy  !  I  don't  think  you  did  much 
good. 

Miss  Anne.  I'll  tell  you  what,  Lucy  ;  if  Roy- 
al found  the  turtle  and  made  the  pen,  and  if  you 
watched  him  and  helped  drive  him  in,  then  I 
think  you  ought  to  own  about  one  third,  and  Roy- 
al two  thirds. 

Royal.     Well. 

Miss  Anne.  But,  then,  Royal,  why  would  it 
not  be  a  good  plan  for  you  to  let  her  have  as 
much  of  your  share  as  will  make  hers  half,  and 
5 


50  lucy's  conversations. 

yours  half,  to  pay  her  for  the  trouble  you  gave  her 
by  the  cap  story  ? 

Royal.     To  pay  her  ? 

Miss  Anne.  Yes,  —  a  sort  of  damages.  Then, 
if  you  are  careful  not  to  deceive  her  any  more, 
Lucy  will  pass  over  the  old  cases,  and  place  con- 
fidence in  you  for  the  future. 

Royal.     Well,  Lucy,  you  shall  have  half. 

Lucy  clapped  her  hands  with  delight  at  this 
concession,  and  soon  after  the  children  reached 
home.  The  next  day,  Royal  and  Lucy  went 
down  to  see  the  turtle ;  and  Royal  made  him  a 
large  pasture,  partly  in  the  brook  and  partly  on 
the  shore,  and  while  he  was  doing  it,  Lucy  re- 
named, and  kept  him  company. 


TARGET    PAINTING.  51 


CONVERSATION    V. 

TARGET   PAINTING. 

On  rainy  clays,  Lucy  sometimes  found  it  pretty 
difficult,  to  know  what  to  do  for  amusement, — 
especially  when  Royal  was  in  his  little  room  at 
his  studies.  When  Royal  had  finished  his  studies, 
he  used  to  let  her  go  out  with  him  into  the  shed, 
or  into  the  bam,  and  see  what  he  was  doing.  She 
could  generally  tell  whether  he  had  gone  out  or 
not,  by  looking  into  the  back  entry  upon  his  nail, 
to  see  if  his  cap  was  there.  If  his  cap  was  there, 
she  supposed  that  he  had  not  gone  out. 

One  afternoon,  when  it  was  raining  pretty  fast, 
she  went  twice  to  look  at  Royal's  nail,  and  both 
times  found  the  cap  still  upon  it.  Lucy  thought 
it  must  be  after  the  time,  and  she  wondered  why 
he  did  not.  come  down.  She  concluded  to  take 
his  cap,  and  put  it  on,  and  make  believe  that  she 
was  a  traveller. 

She  put  the  cap  upon  her  head,  and  then  got  a 
pair  of  her  father's  gloves,  and  put  on.  She  also 
found  an  umbrella  in  the  corner,  and  took  that  in 
her  hand.     When  she  found  herself  rigged,  she 


52  lucy's  conversations. 

thought  she  would  go  and  call  at  Miss  Anne's 
door.  She  accordingly  walked  along,  using  her 
umbrella  for  a  cane,  holding  it  with  both  hands. 

When  she  got  to  Miss  Anne's  door,  she  knocked, 
as  well  as  she  could,  with  the  crook  upon  the 
handle  of  the  umbrella.  Miss  Anne  had  heard 
the  thumping  noise  of  the  umbrella,  as  Lucy 
came  along,  and  knew  who  it  was ;  so  she  said, 
"  Come  in." 

Lucy  opened  the  door  and  went  in  ;  the  cap 
settled  down  over  her  eyes,  so  that  she  had  to  hold 
her  head  back  very  far  to  see,  and  the  long  fingers 
of  her  father's  gloves  were  sticking  out  in  all  di- 
rections. 

"  How  do  you,  sir  ? "  said  she  to  Miss  Anne, 
nodding  a  little,  as  well  as  she  could,  —  "  how  do 
you,  sir  ?  " 

"  Pretty  well,  I  thank  you,  sir  f  walk  in,  sir ;  I 
am  happy  to  see  you,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  It  is  a  pretty  late  evening,  sir,  I  thank  you, 
sir,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  think  it  is,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  Is 
there  any  news  to-night,  sir  ? " 

"  No,  sir,  —  not  but  a  few,  sir,"  said  Lucy. 

Lucy  looked  pretty  sober  while  this  dialogue 
lasted;  but  Miss  Anne  could  not  refrain  from 
laughing  aloud  at  Lucy's  appearance  and  expres- 


TARGET    PAINTING.  53 

sions,  and  Lucy  turned  round,  and  appeared  to  be 
going  away. 

"  Can't  you  stop  longer,  sir  ?  "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Lucy.  "  1  only  wanted  to  ask 
you  which  is  the  way  to  London." 

Just  at  this  moment,  Lucy  heard  Royal's  voice 
in  the  back  entry,  asking  Joanna  if  she  knew 
what  had  become  of  his  cap ;  and  immediately 
she  started  to  run  back  and  give  it  to  him.  Find- 
ing, however,  that  she  could  not  get  along  fast 
enough  with  the  umbrella,  she  dropped  it  upon  the 
floor,  and  ran  along  without  it,  calling  out, 

"  Royal !  Royal !  here  ;  come  here,  and  look 
at  me." 

"  Now  I  should  like  to  know,  Miss  Lucy," 
said  Royal,  as  soon  as  she  came  in  sight,  "  who 
authorized  you  to  take  off  my  cap:" 

"  I'm  a  traveller,"  said  Lucy. 

"  A  traveller  !  "  repeated  Royal ;  "  you  look 
like  a  traveller." 

He  pulled  his  cap  off  from  Lucy's  head,  and 
put  it  upon  his  own ;  and  then  held  up  a  paper 
which  he  had  in  his  hands,  to  her  view. 

There  was  a  frightful-looking  figure  of  a  man 
upon  it,  pretty  large,  with  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth, 
painted  brown,  and  a  bundle  of  sticks  upon  his 
back. 

5* 


54 


LUCYS    CONVERSATIONS. 


"  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  an  Indian,"  said  Royal.  "  I  painteahim 
myself." 

"Q,  what  an  Indian!"  said  Lucy.  "I  wish 
you  would  give  him  to  me." 

"  O  no,"  said  Royal ;  "  it  is  for  my  target." 

"  Target  ?  "  said  Lucy.     "  What  is  a  target  ? " 

'l  A  target  ?  Why,  a  target  is  a  mark  to  shoot 
at,  with  my  bow  and  arrow.  They  almost  al- 
ways have  Indians  for  targets." 

Lucy  told  him  that  she  did  not  believe  his 
target  would  stand  up  long  enough  to  be  shot  at ; 
but  Royal  said,  in  reply,  that  he  was  going  to 
paste  him  upon  a  shingle,  and  then  he  could  prop 
the  shingle  up  so  thit  he  could  shoot  at  it.  And 
he  asked  Lucy  if  she  would  go  and  borrow  Miss 
Anne's  gum  arabic  bottle,  while  he  went  and  got 
the  shingle. 

The  shingle  which  Royal  meant  was  a  thin, 
flat  piece  of  wood,  such  as  is  used  to  put  upon 
the  roofs  of  houses. 

The  gum  arabic  bottle  was  a  small,  square 
bottle,  containing  some  dissolved  gum  arabic,  and 
a  brush,  —  which  was  always  ready  for  pasting. 

Before  Lucy  got  the  paste,  Royal  came  back 
with  his  shingle,  and  he  came  into  Miss  Anne's 
room,  to  see  what  had  become  of  Lucy ;   and 


TARGET    PAINTING.  OO 

Miss  Anne  then  said  he  might  paste  it  there  if  lie 
pleased.  So  she  spread  a  great  newspaper  upon 
the  table,  and  put  the  little  bottle  and  the  Indian 
upon  it ;  and  Royal  and  Lucy  brought  two  chairs, 
and  sat  down  to  the  work.  They  found  that  the 
table  was  rather  too  high  for  them ;  and  so  they 
took  the  things  off  again,  and  spread  the  paper 
upon  the  carpet,  and  sat  down  around  it.  Lucy 
could  see  now  a  great  deal  better  than  before. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  very  much  wish 
that  you  would  give  me  your  gum  arable  bottle, 
and  then  I  could  make  little  books,  and  paste 
pictures  in  them,  whenever  I  pleased." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  and  that  would 
make  me  ever  so  much  trouble." 

"  No,  Miss  Anne,  I  don't  think  it  would  make 
you  much  trouble." 

"  Why,  when  I  wanted  a  little  gum  arabic,  to 
paste  something,  how  would  I  get  any  ?  " 

"  O,  then  I  would  lend  you  mine,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  if  you  could  find  it." 

"  O,  Miss  Anne,  I  could  find  it  very  easily  ;  I 
am  going  to  keep  it  in  my  treasury." 

"  Perhaps  you  might  put  it  in  once  or  twice, 
but  after  that  you  would  leave  it  about  anywhere. 
One  day  I  should  find  it  upon  a  chair,  and  the 
next  day  upon  a  table,  and  the  next  on  the  floor ; 


56  lucy's  conversations. 

—  that  is  the  way  you  leave  your  things  about 
the  house." 

"I  used  to,  when  I  was  a  little  girl,"  said 
Lucy,  "  but  I  don't  now." 

"  How  long  is  it  since  you  were  a  little  girl  ?  " 
asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  O,  it  was  before  you  came  here.  I  am  older 
now  than  I  was  when  you  came  here  ;  I  have 
had  a  birthday  since  then." 

"  Don't  you  grow  old  any,  except  when  you 
have  a  birthday?"  asked  Miss  Anne. 

Lucy  did  not  answer  this  question  at  first,  as 
she  did  not  know  exactly  how  it  was  ;  and  while 
she  was  thinking  of  it,  Miss  Anne  said, 

"  It  can't  be  very  long,  Lucy,  since  you  learned 
to  put  things  in  their  places,  for  it  is  not  more 
than  ten  minutes  since  I  heard  you  throw  down 
an  umbrella  upon  the  entiy  floor,  and  leave  it 
there." 

"  The  umbrella  ?  —  O,  that  was  because  I 
heard  Royal  calling  for  his  cap ;  and  so  I  could 
not  wait,  you  know  ;  I  had  to  leave  it  there." 

"  But  you  have  passed  by  it  once  since,  and  I 
presume  you  did  not  think  of  such  a  thing  as 
taking  it  up." 

Lucy  had  no  reply  to  make  to  this  statement, 
and  she  remained  silent. 


TARGET    PAINTING.  57 

"  I  have  got  a  great  many  little  things,"  con- 
tinued Miss  Anne,  "  which  I  don't  want  myself, 
and  which  I  should  be  very  glad  to  give  away  to 
some  little  girl,  for  playthings,  if  I  only  knew  of 
some  one  who  would  take  care  of  them.  I  don't 
want  to  have  them  scattered  about  the  house,  and 
lost,  and  destroyed." 

"Q,  I  will  take  care  of  them,  Miss  Anne," 
said  Lucy,  very  eagerly,  "  if  you  will  only  give 
them  to  me.  I  certainly  will.  I  will  put  them  in 
my  treasury,  and  keep  them  very  safe." 

"  If  I  were  a  little  girl,  no  bigger  than  you,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  "  I  should  have  a  great  cabinet  of  play- 
things and  curiosities,  twice  as  big  as  your  treas- 
ury." 

"  How  should  you  get  them  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  know  of  a  way  ;  —  but  it  is  a  secret." 

"  Tell  me,  do,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy.  — 
"  You  would  buy  them,  I  suppose,  with  your 
money." 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  not  the  way 
I  meant."_ 

"  What  way  did  you  mean,  then  ?  "  said 
Lucy.     "  I  wish  you  would  tell  me." 

"  Why,  I  should  take  such  excellent  care  of 
"  rerything  I  had,  that  my  mother  would  give  me 


58  lucy's  conversations. 

a  great  many  of  her  little  curiosities,  and  other 
things,  to  keep." 

"  Would  she,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  1  do  not  doubt  it. 
Every  lady  has  a  great  many  beautiful  things,  put 
away,  which  she  does  not  want  to  use  herself,  but 
she  only  wants  to  have  them  kept  safely.  Now, 
I  should  take  such  good  care  of  all  such  things, 
that  my  mother  would  be  very  glad  to  have  me 
keep  them." 

"  Did  you  do  so,  when  you  were  a  little  girl  ? " 
said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  I  was  just  as  careless 
and  foolish  as  you  are.  When  I  was  playing 
with  anything,  and  was  suddenly  called  away,  I 
would  throw  it  right  down,  wherever  I  happened 
to  be,  and  leave  it  there.  Once  I  had  a  little 
glass  dog,  and  I  left  it  on  the  floor,  where  I  had 
been  playing  with  it,  and  somebody  came  along, 
and  stepped  upon  it,  and  broke  it  to  pieces." 

"  And  would  not  your  mother  give  you  things 
then  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,  nothing  which  was  of  much  value.  — 
And  once  my  uncle  sent  me  a  beautiful  little  doll ; 
but  my  mother  would  not  let  me  keep  it.  She 
kept  it  herself,  locked  up  in  a  drawer,  only  some- 
times she  would  let  me  have  it  to  play  with." 


TARGET    PAINTING.  59 

"  Why  would  not  she  let  you  keep  it? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  O,  if  she  had,  I  should  soon  have  made  it 
look  like  old  Margaret." 

Here  Royal  said  he  had  got  his  Indian  pasted ; 
and  he  put  away  the  gum  arabic  bottle,  and  the 
sheet  of  paper,  and  then  he  and  Lucy  went 
away. 


60  luct's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION   VI. 
MIDNIGHT. 

One  night,  while  Miss  Anne  was  undressing 
Lucy,  to  put  her  to  bed,  she  thought  that  her  voice 
had  a  peculiar  sound,  somewhat  different  from 
usual.  It  was  not  hoarseness,  exactly,  and  yet  it 
was  such  a  sort  of  sound  as  made  Miss  Anne 
think  that  Lucy  had  taken  cold.  She  asked  her 
if  she  had  not  taken  cold,  but  Lucy  said  no. 

Lucy  slept  in  Miss  Anne's  room,  in  a  little 
trundle-bed.  Late  in  the  evening,  just  before 
Miss  Anne  herself  went  to  bed,  she  looked  at 
Lucy,  to  see  if  she  was  sleeping  quietly ;  and  she 
found  that  she  was. 

But  in  the  night  Miss  Anne  was  awaked  by 
hearing  Lucy  coughing  with  a  peculiar  hoarse  and 
hollow  sound,  and  breathing  very  hard.  She  got 
up,  and  went  to  her  trundle-bed. 

"  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  what's  the  matter? " 

"  Nothing,"  said  Lucy,  "  only  I  can't  breathe 
very  well." 

Here   Lucy  began  to  cough  again;   and  the 


MIDNIGHT.  61 

cough  sounded  so  hoarse  and  hollow,  that  Miss 
Anne  began  to  be  quite  afraid  that  Lucy  was 
really  sick.  She  put  on  a  loose  robe,  and  carried 
her  lamp  out  into  the  kitchen,  and  lighted  it,  — 
and  then  came  back  into  her  room  again.  She 
found  that  Lucy  was  no  better,  and  so  she  went 
to  call  her  mother. 

She  went  with  the  lamp,  and  knocked  at  her 
door ;  and  when  she  answered,  Miss  Anne  told  her 
that  Lucy  did  not  seem  to  be  very  well,  —  that  she 
had  a  hoarse  cough,  and  that  she  breathed  hard. 

"  O,  I'm  afraid  it  is  the  croup,"  she  ex- 
claimed ;   "  let  us  get  up  immediately." 

We  will  get  right  up,  and  come  and  see  her," 
said  Lucy's  father. 

So  Miss  Anne  put  the  lamp  down  at  their 
door,  and  went  out  into  the  kitchen  to  light  an- 
other lamp  for  herself.  She  also  opened  the  coals, 
and  put  a  little  wood  upon  the  fire,  and  hung  the  tea- 
kettle upon  the  crane,  and  filled  it  up  with  water ; 
for  Miss  Anne  had  observed  that,  in  cases  of  sud- 
den sickness,  hot  water  was  one  of  the  things  most 
sure  to  be  wanted. 

After  a  short  time,  Lucy's  father  and  mother 
came  in.  After  they  had  been  with  her  a  few 
minutes,  her  mother  said, 

"  Don't  you  think  it  is  the  croup  ? " 
6 


62  lucy's  conversations. 

tl  No,  I  hope  not,"  said  her  father ;  "  I  pre- 
sume  it  is  only  quinsy ;  but  I  am  not  sure,  and 
perhaps  I  had  better  go  for  a  doctor." 

After  some  further  consultation,  they  conclu- 
ded that  it  was  best  to  call  a  physician.  Lucy's 
mother  recommended  that  they  should  call  up  the 
hired  man,  and  send  him ;  but  her  father  thought 
that  it  would  take  some  time  for  him  to  get  up  and 
get  ready,  and  that  he  had  better  go  himself. 

When  he  had  gone,  they  brought  in  some  hot 
water,  and  bathed  Lucy's  feet.  She  liked  this 
very  much ;  but  her  breathing  seemed  to  grow 
rather  worse  than  better. 

"  What  is  the  croup  ? "  said  Lucy  tp  her 
mother,  while   her   feet   were  in   the   water. 

"  It  is  a  kind  of  sickness  that  children  have 
sometimes  suddenly  in  the  night ;  but  I  hope  you 
are  not  going  to  have  it." 

"  No,  mother,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  think  it  is  only 
the  quinsy." 

Lucy  did  not  know  at  all  what  the  quinsy  was ; 
but  her  sickness  did  not  seem  to  her  to  be  any 
thing  very  bad ;  and  so  she  agreed  with  her  fa- 
ther that  it  was  probably  only  the  quinsy. 

When  the  doctor  came,  he  felt  of  Lucy's 
pulse,  and  looked  at  her  tongue,  and  listened  to 
her  breathing. 


MIDNIGHT.  63 

"'  Will  she  lake  ipecacuanha  1 "  said  the  doctor 
to  Lucy's  mother. 

"  She  will  take  anything  you  prescribe,  doc- 
tor," said  her  father,  in  reply. 

"  Well,  that's  clever,"  said  the  doctor.  "  The 
old  rule  is,  that  the  child  that  will  take  medicine  is 
half  cured  already." 

So  the  doctor  sat  down  at  the  table,  and  opened 
his  saddle-bags,  and  took  out  a  bottle  filled  with  a 
yellowish  powder,  and  began  to  take  some  out. 

"  Is  it  good  medicine  ? "  said  Lucy,  in  a  low 
voice,  to  her  mother.  She  was  now  sitting  in  her 
mother's  lap,  who  was  rocking  her  in  a  rocking- 
chair. 

'•'  Yes,"  said  the  doctor ;  for  he  overheard 
Lucy's  question,  and  thought  that  he  would  an- 
swer it  himself.  "  Yes,  ipecacuanha  is  a  very 
good  medicine,  — -  an  excellent  medicine." 

As  he  said  this,  he  looked  around,  rather  slyly, 
at  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy's  father. 

"  Then  I  shall  like  to  take  it,"  said  Lucy. 

"  He  means,"  said  her  mother,  "  that  it  is  a  gooa 
medicine  to  cure  the  sickness  with ;  the  taste  of  it 
is  not  good.  It  is  a  very  disagreeable  medicine  to 
take." 

Lucy  said  nothing  in  reply  to  this,  but  she 
thought   to  herself,  that  she  wished  the   doctors 


64  lucy's  conversations. 

could  find  out  some  medicines  that  did  not  taste 
so  bad. 

Miss  Anne  received  the  medicine  from  the  doc- 
tor, and  prepared  it  in  a  spoon,  with  some  water, 
for  Lucy  to  take.  Just  before  it  was  ready,  the 
door  opened,  and  Royal  came  in. 

"Why,  Royal,"  said  his  mother,  "how  came 
you  to  get  up?" 

"  I  heard  a  noise,  and  I  thought  it  was  morn- 
ing," said  Royal. 

"  Morning  ?  no,"  replied  his  mother ;  "  it  is 
midnight." 

"  Midnight  ?  "  said  Lucy.  She  was  quite  as- 
tonished. She  did  not  recollect  that  she  had  ever 
been  up  at  midnight  before,  in  her  life. 

"  Is  Lucy  sick  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  No,  not  very  sick,"  said  Lucy. 

Royal  came  and  stood  by  the  rocking-chair, 
and  looked  into  Lucy's  face. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  sick,"  said  he.  "  Is 
there  anything  that  I  can  do  for  you  ? " 

Lucy  hesitated  a  moment,  and  then  her  eye 
suddenly  brightened  up,  and  she  said, 

"Yes,  Royal,  —  if  you  would  only  just  be  so 
good  as  to  take  my  medicine  for  me." 

Royal  laughed,  and  said,  "  O  Lucy !  I  guess 
you  are  not  very  sick." 


MIDNIGHT.  65 

In  fact,  Lucy  was  breathing  pretty  freely  then, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate,  particularly, 
that  she  was  sick;  unless  when  a  paroxysm  of 
coushins:  came  on.  Miss  Anne  brought  her 
medicine  to  her  in  a  great  spoon,  and  Royal  said 
that  he  presumed  that  the  doctor  would  not  let 
him  take  the  medicine,  but  that,  if  she  would  take 
it,  he  would  make  all  the  faces  for  her. 

Accordingly,  while  she  was  swallowing  the 
medicine,  she  turned  her  eyes  up  towards  Royal, 
who  had  stood  back  a  little  way,  and  she  began 
to  laugh  a  little  at  the  strange  grimaces  which  he 
was  making.  The  laugh  was,  however,  inter- 
rupted and  spoiled  by  a  universal  shudder  which 
came  over  her,  produced  by  the  taste  of  the  ipe- 
cacuanha. 

Immediately   afterwards,  Lucy's  mother   said, 

"  Come,  Royal ;  now  I  want  you  to  go  right 
back  to  bed  again." 

"Well,  mother,  —  only  won't  you  just  let  me 
stop  a  minute,  to  look  out  the  door,  and  see  how 
midnight  looks  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  she,  "  only  run  along." 

So  Royal  went  away ;  and  pretty  soon  the  doc- 
tor went  away  too.  He  said  that  Lucy  would  be 
pretty  sick  for  about  an  hour,  and  that  after  that 
he  hoped  that  she  would  be  better ;  and  he  left  a 
6* 


66  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

small  white  powder  in  a  little  paper,  which  he  said 
she  might  take  after  that  time,  and  it  would  make 
her  sleep  well  the  rest  of  the  night. 

It  was  as  the  doctor  had  predicted.  Lucy  was 
quite  sick  for  an  hour,  and  her  father  and  mother, 
and  Miss  Anne,  all  remained,  and  took  care  of 
her.  After  that,  she  began  to  be  better.  She 
breathed  much  more  easily,  and  when  she  coughed 
she  did  not  seem  to  be  so  very  hoarse.  Her  moth- 
er was  then  going  to  cany  her  into  her  room ; 
but  Miss  Anne  begged  them  to  let  her  stay  where 
she  was ;  for  she  said  she  wanted  to  take  care  of 
her  herself. 

"  The  doctor  said  he  thought  she  would  sleep 
quietly,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  and  if  she  should  not 
be  so  well,  I  will  come  and  call  you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  her  mother,  "  we  will  do  so. 
But  first  you  may  give  her  the  powder." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  the  white  powder,  and  put 
it  into  some  jelly,  in  a  spoon ;  and  when  she  had 
covered  the  powder  up  carefully  with  the  jelly, 
she  brought  it  to  Lucy. 

"  Noiv  I've  got  some  good  medicine  for  you," 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  I  am  glad  it  is  good,"  said  Lucy. 

"  That  is,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  the  jelly  is 
good,  and  you  will  not  taste  the  powder." 


MIDNIGHT.  67 

Lucy  took  the  jelly,  and,  after  it,  a  little  water ; 
and  then  her  mother  put  her  into  her  trundle-bed. 
Her  father  and  mother  then  bade  her  good  night, 
and  went  away  to  their  own  room. 

Miss  Anne  then  set  the  chairs  back  in  their 
places,  and  carried  out  all  the  tilings  which  had 
been  used ;  and  after  she  had  got  the  room  ar- 
ranged and  in  order,  she  came  to  Lucy's  bedsidt 
to  see  if  she  was  asleep.     She  was  not  asleep. 

"  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  how  do  you  feel 
now  ?  " 

"  O,  pretty  well,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  at  least,  I  am 
better." 

"  Do  you  feel  sleepy  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Is  there  any  thing  you  want  ? "  asked  Miss 
Anne. 

"  Why,  no,  — ;only,  —  I  should  like  it,  —  only 
I  don't  suppose  you  could  very  well,  —  but  I 
should  like  it  if  you  could  hold  me  a  little  while, 
—  and  rock  me." 

aO  yes,  I  can,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "just  as  well 
as  not." 

So  Miss  Anne  took  Lucy  up  from  her  bed,  and 
wrapped  a  blanket  about  her,  and  sat  down  in 
her  rocking-chair,  to  rock  her.  She  rocked  her 
a    few    minutes,    and    sang    to   her,  until    she 


68  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

thought  she  was  asleep.  Then  she  stopped  sing- 
ing, and  she  rocked  slower  and  slower,  until  she 
gradually  ceased. 

A  moment  afterwards,  Lucy  said,  in  a  mild  and 
gentle  voice, 

"  Miss  Anne,  is  it  midnight  now  ?  " 

"  It  is  about  midnight,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Do  you  think  you  could  just  carry  me  to  the 
window,  and  let  me  look  out,  and  -see  how  the 
midnight  looks  ?  —  or  am  I  too  heavy  ? " 

"  No,  you  are  not  very  heavy ;  but,  then, 
there  is  nothing  to  see.  Midnight  looks  just  like 
any  other  part  of  the  night." 

"  Royal  wanted  to  see  it,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  I 
should  like  to,  too,  if  you  would  be  willing  to 
carry  me." 

When  a  child  is  so  patient  and  gentle,  it  is 
very  difficult  indeed  to  refuse  them  any  request 
that  they  make ;  and  Miss  Anne  immediately 
began  to  draw  up  the  blanket  over  Lucy's  feet, 
preparing  to  go.  She  did  not  wish  to  have  her 
put  her  feet  to  the  floor,  for  fear  that  she  might 
take  more  cold.  So  she  carried  her  along  to  the 
window,  although  she  was  pretty  heavy  for  Miss 
Anne  to  carry.     Miss  Anne  was  not  very  strong. 

Lucy  separated  the  two  curtains  with  her 
hands,  and  Miss  Anne   carried   her  in  between 


MIDNIGHT.  71 

them.  There  was  a  narrow  window-seat,  and 
she  rested  Lucy  partly  upon  it,  so  that  she  was 
less  heavy  to  hold. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  is'nt  it  any 
darker  than  this  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  there  is  a  moon 
to-night." 

"  Where  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  I  don't  see  the 
moon." 

"  We  can't  see  it  here ;  we  can  only  see  the 
light  of  it,  shining  on  the  buildings." 

"  It  is  pretty  dark  in  the  yard,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  the  yard  is  in 
shadow." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 
asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  the  moon  does  not  shine  into  the  yard ; 
the  house  casts  a  shadow  all  over  it." 

"  Then  I  should  think,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  you 
ought  to  say  that  the  shadow  is  in  the  yard,  — 
not  the  yard  is  in  the  shadow." 

Miss  Anne  laughed,  and  said, 

"  I  did  not  say  that  the  yard  was  in  the  shadow, 
but  in  shadow" 

"  And  is  not  that  just  the  same  thing  ?  "  said 
Lucy 


72  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Not  exactly ;  but  look  at  the  stars  ovei 
there,  beyond  the  field." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  there's  one  pretty  bright 
one;  but  there  are  not  a  great  many  out.  I 
thought  there  would  be  more  at  midnight." 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  there  are  no  more 
stars  at  midnight  than  at  any  other  time ;  and 
to-night  there  are  fewer  than  usual,  because  the 
moon  shines." 

"  I  don't  see  why  there  should  not  be  just  as 
many  stars,  if  the  moon  does  shine." 

"  There  are  just  as  many  ;  only  we  can't  see 
them  so  well." 

"  Why  can't  we  see  them  ? "  said  Lucy. 

But  Miss  Anne  told  Lucy  that  she  was  rather 
tired  of  holding  her  at  the  window,  and  so  she 
would  carry  her  back,  and  tell  her  about  it  while 
she  was  rocking  her  to  sleep. 

"  Yon  see,"  said  Miss  Anne,  after  she  had  sat 
down  again,  "  that  there  are  just  as  many  stars  in 
the  sky  in  the  daytime,  as  there  are  in  the  night." 

"  O  Miss  Anne !  "  exclaimed  Lucy,  raising  up 
her  head  suddenly,  as  if  surprised  ;  "  1  have  looked 
up  in  the  sky  a  great  many  times,  and  I  never 
saw  any." 

"  No,  we  cannot  see  them,  because  the  sun 
shines  so  bright." 


MIDNIGHT. 


"  Did  you  ever  see  any,  Miss  Anne  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  she. 

"  Did  any  body  ever  see  any  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "I  don't  know  that 
any  body  ever  did." 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  how  do  they  know  that 
there  are  any  ? " 

"  Well  —  that  is  rather  a  hard  question,"  said 
Miss  Anne.  "  But  they  do  know  ;  they  have 
found  out  in  some  way  or  other,"  though  -I  don't 
know  exactly  how." 

"  I  don't  see  how  they  can  know  that  there  are 
any  stars  there,"  said  Lucy,  "  unless  somebody 
has  seen  them.  I  guess  they  only  think  there 
are  some,  Miss  Anne,  — ■  they  only  think." 

"  I  believe  I  don't  know  enough  about  it  my- 
self," said  Miss  Anne,  "  to  explain  it  to  you,  — 
and  besides,  you  ought  to  go  to  sleep  now.  So 
shut  up  your  eyes,  and  I  will  sing  to  you,  and 
then,  perhaps,  you  will  go  to  sleep." 

Lucy  obeyed,  and  shut  up  her  eyes  ;  and  Miss 
Anne  began  to  sing  her  a  song.  After  a  little 
while,  Lucy  opened  her  eyes,  and  said, 

"  I  rather  think,  Miss  Anne,  I  should  like  to 
get  into  my  trundle-bed  now.  I  am  rather  tired 
of  sitting  in  your  lap." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  I  think  it  will 
? 


74  lucy's  conversations. 

be  better.  But  would  not  you  rather  have  me 
bring  the  cradle  in?  and  then  you  can  lie  down, 
and  I  can  rock  you  all  the  time." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  the  cradle  has  got  so  short, 
that  I  can't  put  my  feet  out  straight.  I  had 
rather  get  into  my  trundle-bed." 

So  Miss  Anne  put  Lucy  into  the  trundle-bed, 
and  she  herself  took  a  book,  and  sat  at  her  table, 
reading.  In  a  short  time,  Lucy  went  to  sleep ; 
and  she  slept  soundly  until  morning. 


JOANNA.  75 


CONVERSATION    VII. 
JOANNA. 

The  next  morning,  when  Lucy  waked  up,  she 
ipund  that  it  was  very  light.  The.  curtains  of 
the  room  were  up,  and  she  could  see  the  sun 
shining  brightly  upon  the  trees  and  buildings  out 
of  doors,  so  that  she  supposed  that  it  was  pretty 
late.  Besides,  she  saw  that  Miss  Anne  was  not 
in  the  room ;  and  she  supposed  that  she  had  got 
up  and  gone  out  to  breakfast. 

Lucy  thought  that  she  would  get  up  too.  But 
then  she  recollected  that  she  had  been  sick  the 
night  before,  and  that,  perhaps,  her  mother  would 
not  be  willing  to  have  her  get  up. 

Her  next  idea  was,  that  she  would  call  out  for 
Miss  Anne,  or  for  her  mother ;  but  this,  on  re- 
flection, she  thought  would  make  a  great  disturb- 
ance ;  for  it  was  some  distance  from  the  room 
which  she  was  in  to  the  parlor,  where  she  sup- 
posed they  were  taking  breakfast. 

She  concluded,  on  the  whole,  to  wait  patiently 
until  somebody  should  come ;  and  having  nothing 


76  lucy's  conversations. 

else  to  do,  she  began  to  sing  a  little  song,  which 
Bfiss  Anne  had  taught  her.  She  knew  only  one 
verse,  but  she  sang  this  verse  two  or  three  times 
over,  louder  and  louder  each  time,  and  her  voice 
resounded  merrily  through  all  that  part  of  the 
house. 

Some  children  cry  when  they  wake  up  and 
find  themselves  alone  ;  some  call  out  aloud  for 
somebody  to  come;  and  others  sing.  Thus 
there  are  three  ways  ;  and  the  singing  is  the  best 
of  all  the  three ;  —  except,  indeed,  for  very  little 
children,  who  are  not  old  enough  to  sing  or  to  call, 
and  who,  therefore,  cannot  do  anything  but  cry. 

They  heard  Lucy's  singing  in  the  parlor,  and 
Bliss  Anne  came  immediately  to  see  her.  She 
gave  her  a  picture-book  to  amuse  herself  with  for 
a  time,  and  went  away  again ;  but  in  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  she  came  back,  and  helped  her 
io  get  up  and  dress  herself. 

Her  mother  told  her  that  she  must  not  go  out 
of  doors  that  day,  but  that  she  might  play  about 
in  any  of  the  rooms,  just  as  she  pleased. 

"  But  what  shall  I  do  for  my  breakfast  ? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  O,  I  will  give  you  some  breakfast,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  How  should  you  like  to  have  it  by 
yourself,  upon  your  little  table,  in  the  kitchen  ? " 


JOANNA.  77 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  if  you  will  let  me  have 
my  own  cups  and  saucers." 

':  Your  cups  won't  hold  enough  for  you  to 
Jrink,  —  will  they  ?  " 

"  0,  I  can  fill  them  up  two  or  three  times." 

Miss  Anne  said  she  had  no  objection  to  this 
plan ;  and  she  told  Lucy  to  go  and  get  her  table 
ready.  So  Lucy  went  and  got  her  little  table. 
It  was  just  high  enough  for  her  to  sit  at.  Her 
father  had  made  it  for  her,  by  taking  a  small  table 
in  the  house,  which  had  been  intended  for  a  sort 
of  a  light-stand,  and  sawing  off  the  legs,  so  as  to 
make  it  just  high  enough  for  her. 

Lucy  brought  this  little  table,  and  also  her 
chair ;  and  then  Miss  Anne  handed  her  a  napkin 
for  a  table-cloth,  and  told  her  that  she  might  set 
her  table,  —  and  that,  when  it  was  all  set,  she 
would  bring  her  something  for  breakfast ;  and  so 
she  left  Lucy,  for  a  time,  to  herself. 

Lucy  spread  the  napkin  upon  her  table,  and 
then  went  and  got  some  of  her  cups  and  sau- 
cers, and  put  upon  it.  Joanna  was  ironing  at 
the  gieat  kitchen  table,  and  Lucy  went  to  ask 
her  how  many  cups  and  saucers  she  had  bet- 
ter set. 

"  I  should  think  it  would  take  the  whole  set," 
said  Joanna,  "to  hold  one  good  cup  of  tea." 
7* 


78  lucy's  conversations. 

"  But  I  am  going  to  fill  up  my  cup  three  times. 
Joanna ;  and  if  that  isn't  enough,  I  shall  fill  it 
up  four  times." 

"  O,  then,"  said  Joanna,  "  I  would  not  have 
but  one  cup,  —  or  at  most  two.  I  think  I  would 
have  two,  because  you  may  possibly  have  some 
company." 

"  I  wish  you  would  come  and  be  my  company, 
Joanna." 

"  No,  I  must  attend  to  my  ironing." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  as  she  went  back  to  her 
table,  "  I  will  have  two  cups,  at  any  rate,  for  I 
may  have  some  company." 

She  accordingly  put  on  two  cups  and  a  tea-pot ; 
also  a  sugar-bowl  and  creamer.  She  placed 
them  in  various  ways  upon  the  table ;  first  trying 
one  plan  of  arrangement,  and  then  another  ;  and 
when  at  last  they  were  placed  in  the  best  way, 
she  went  and  called  Miss  Anne,  to  tell  her  that 
she  was  ready  for  her  breakfast. 

Miss  Anne  came  out,  according  to  her  promise, 
to  give  her  what  she  was  to  have  to  eat.  First, 
she  put  a  little  sugar  in  her  sugar-bowl;  then 
some  milk  in  her  cream-pitcher ;  then  some  water, 
pretty  hot,  in  her  tea-pot. 

"  Could  not  you  let  me  have  a  little  real  tea  ? " 
said  Lucy. 


JOANNA..  79 

"  O,  this  will  taste  just  as  well,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  I  know  it  will  taste  just  as  well ;  but  it  will 
not  look  just  right.  Real  tea  is  not  white,  like 
water." 

"  Water  is  not  white,"  said  Miss  Anne ; 
"  milk  is  white ;  water  is  very  different  in  appear- 
ance from  milk." 

"  What  color  is  water,  then  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  not  of  any  color,"  said  Miss  Anne. 
"It  is  what  we  call  colorless.  Now,  you  want 
to  have  something  in  your  tea-pot  which  is  col- 
ored a  little,  like  tea,  —  not  perfectly  colorless, 
like  water." 

Lucy  said  yes,  that  that  was  exactly  what  she 
wanted.  So  Miss  Anne  took  her  tea-pot  up,  and 
went  into  the  closet  with  it,  and  presently  came 
out  with  it  again,  and  put  it  upon  the  table.  The 
reason  why  she  took  all  this  pains  to  please  Lucy 
was,  because  she  was  so  gentle  and  pleasant ;  and, 
although  she  often  asked  for  things,  she  was  not 
vexed  or  ill-humored  when  they  could  not  be 
given  to  her. 

Miss  Anne  then  cut  some  thin  slices  of  bread, 
and  divided  them  into  square  pieces,  so  small 
that  they  could  go  on  a  small  plate,  which  she 
brought  from  the  closet.     She  also    gave  her  a 


80  lucy's  conversations. 

toasting-fork  with  a  Ion";  handle,  and  told  her  that 
she  might  toast  her  own  bread,  and  then  spread 
it  with  butter.  She  gave  her  a  little  butter  upon 
another  plate. 

When  all  these  things  were  arranged,  Miss 
Anne  went  away,  telling  Lucy  that  she  had 
better  make  her  breakfast  last  as  long  as  she 
could,  for  she  must  remember  that  she  could  not 
go  out  at  all  that  day ;  and  that  she  must  there- 
fore economize  her  amusements 

"  Economize  ?  What  do  you  mean  by  that, 
Miss  Anne  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"Why,  use  them  carefully,  and  make  them 
last  as  long  as  you  can." 

Lucy  followed  Miss  Anne's  advice  in  making 
the  amusement  of  sitting  at  her  own  breakfast 
table  last  as  long  as  possible.  She  toasted  her 
little  slices  of  bread  with  the  toasting-fork,  and 
poured  out  the  tea  from  her  tea-pot.  She  found 
that  it  had  a  slight  tinge  of  the  color  of  tea,  which 
Miss  Anne  had  given  it  by  sweetening  it  a  little, 
with  brown  sugar.  Lucy  enjoyed  her  breakfast 
very  much. 

While  she  was  eating  it,  Joanna,  who  was 
much  pleased  with  her  for  being  so  still,  and  so 
careful  not  to  make  her  any  trouble,  asked  her  if 
she  should  not  like  a  roasted  apple. 


81 


"  Yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  very  much  indeed." 

ie  I  will  give  you  one,"  said  Joanna,  "  and 
show  you  how  to  roast  it,  if  you  will  go  and  ask 
your  mother,  if  she  thinks  it  will  not  hurt  you." 

Lucy  accordingly  went  and  asked  her  mother. 
She  said  it  would  not  hurt  her  at  all,  and  that  she 
should  he  very  glad  to  have  Joanna  get  her  an 
apple. 

Joanna  accordingly  brought  a  large,  rosy  apple, 
with  a  stout  stem.  She  tied  a  lono;  string;  to  the 
stem,  and  then  held  the  apple  up  before  the  fire 
a  minute,  by  means  of  the  stem.  Then  she  got 
a  flat-iron,  and  tied  the  other  end  of  the  string  to 
the  flat-iron.  The  flat-iron  she  then  placed  upon 
the  mantle  shelf,  and  the  string  was  just  long 
enough  to  let  the  apple  hang  down  exactly  be- 
fore the  fire. 

When  it  was  all  arranged  in  this  way,  she  took 
up  the  apple,  and  twisted  the  string  for  some  time ; 
and  then,  when  she  let  the  apple  down  again 
gently  to  its  place,  the  weight  of  it  began  to 
untwist  the  string,  and  this  made  the  apple  itself 
turn  round  quite  swiftly  before  the  fire. 

Joanna' also  put  a  plate  under  the  apple,  to 
catch  any  of  the  juice  or  pulp  which  might  fall 
down,  and  then  left  Lucy  to  watch  it  while  it 
was  roasting. 


82  lucy's  conversations. 

Lucy  watched  its  revolutions  for  some  time  in 
silence.  She  observed  that  the  apple  would 
whirl  very  swiftly  for  a  time,  and  then  it  woulc' 
go  slower,  and  slower,  and  slower,  until,  at  length- 
she  said, 

"  Joanna,  Joanna,  it  is  going  to  stop." 

But,  instead  of  this,  it  happened  that,  just  at 
the  very  instant  when  Lucy  thought  it  was  going. 
to  stop,  all  at  once  it  began  to  turn  the  other 
way ;  and,  instead  of  going  slower  and  slower,  it 
went  faster  and  faster,  until,  at  length,  it  was  re- 
volving as  fast  as  it  did  before. 

"  O  no,"  said  she  to  Joanna  ;  "  it  has  got  a  go- 
ing again." 

It  was  indeed  revolving  very  swiftly ;  but 
pretty  soon  it  began  to  slacken  its  speed  again  ;  — 
and  again  Lucy  thought  that  it  was  certainly 
going  to  stop.  But  at  this  time  she  witnessed  the 
same  phenomenon  as  before.  It  had  nearly  lost 
all  its  motion,  and  was  turning  around  very  slowly 
indeed,  and  just  upon  the  point  of  stopping  ;  and 
in  fact  it  did  seem  to  stop  for  an  instant ;  but  im- 
mediately it  began  to  move  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion, very  slowly  at  first,  but  afterwards  faster  and 
faster,  until  it  was,  at  length,  spinning  around 
before  the  hot  coals,  as  fast  as  ever  before. 
Pretty  soon,  also,  the  apple  began  to  sing ;  and 


JOANNA.  83 

Lucy  concluded  that  it  would  never  stop,  —  at 
least  not  before  it  would  have  time  to  be  well 
roasted. 

"  It  goes  like  Royal's  top,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Has  Royal  got  a  top  ?  "  said  Joanna. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  a  large  humming-top. 
There  is  a  hole  in  it.  It  spins  very  fast,  only  it 
does  not  go  first  one  way  and  then  the  other,  like 
this  apple." 

"  /never  saw  a  top,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Never  saw  one  !  "  exclaimed  Lucy.  "  Did 
not  the  boys  have  tops  when  you  were  little  ?  " 

"  No  boys  that  1  ever  knew,"  answered  Joanna. 

"  Did  you  have  a  tea-set  when  you  were  a 
little  girl  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Joanna,  u  I  never  saw  any  such  a 
tea-set,  until  I  saw  yours." 

"  What  kind  of  playthings  did  you  have,  then, 
when  you  were  a  little  girl  ? " 

"  No  playthings  at  all,"  said  Joanna  ;  "  I  was 
a  farmer's  daughter." 

"  And  don't  the  fanners'  daughters  ever  have 
any  playthings  ? " 

"  /never  did,  at  any  rate." 

"  What  did  you  do,  then,  for  play  ?  " 

"  O,  I  had  plenty  of  play.  When  I  was  about 
as  big  as  you,  I  used  to  build  fires  in  the  stumps." 


84  lucy's  conversations. 

"  What  stumps  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  the  stumps*  in  the  field,  pretty  near 
my  father's  house.  I  used  to  pick  up  chips 
and  sticks,  and  build  fires  in  the  hollow  places  in 
the  stumps,  and  call  them  my  ovens.  Then, 
when  they  were  all  heated,  I  used  to  put  a  potato 
in,  and  cover  it  up  with  sand,  and  let  it  roast." 

"  I  wish  I  had  some  stumps  to  build  fires  in," 
jaid  Lucy.  "  I  should  like  to  go  to  your  house 
and  see  them." 

"  O,  they  are  all  gone  now,"  said  Joanna. 
"  They  have  gradually  got  burnt  up,  and  rotted 
out ;  and  now  it  is  all  a  smooth,  green  field." 

"  O,  what  a  pity  !  "  said  Lucy.  "  And  an't 
there  any  more  stumps  anywhere  ? " 

"  Yes,  in  the  woods,  and  upon  the  new  fields. 
You  see,  when  they  cut  down  trees,  they  leave  the 
stumps  in  the  ground  ;  and  pretty  soon  they  begin 
to  rot ;  and  they  rot  more  and  more,  until,  at  last, 
they  tumble  all  to  pieces ;  and  then  they  pile  up 
the  pieces  in  heaps,  and  bum  them.  Then  the 
ground  is  all  smooth  and  clear.  So  I  used  to 
build  fires  in  the  stumps  as  long  as  they  lasted. 
One  day  my  hen  laid  her  eggs  in  a  stump." 

"  Your  hen  ? "  said  Lucy ;  "  did  you  have  a 
hen?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Joanna ;  "  when  I  was  a  little 


85 


older  than  you  are,  my  father  gave  me  a  little  yel- 
low chicken,  that  was  peeping,  with  the  rest,  about 
the  yard.  I  used  to  feed  her,  every  day,  with 
crumbs.  After  a  time,  she  grew  up  to  be  a  large 
hen,  and  laid  eggs.  My  father  said  that  I  might 
have  all  the  eggs  too.  I  used  to  sell  them,  and 
save  the  money." 

"  How  much  money  did  you  get  ? "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  O,  considerable.  After  a  time,  you  see,  I  let 
my  hen  sit,  and  hatch  some  chickens." 

"  Sit  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  you  see,  after  hens  have  laid  a  good 
many  eggs,  they  sit  upon  them,  to  keep  them 
warm,  for  two  or  three  weeks ;  and,  while  they 
keep  them  warm,  a  little  chicken  begins  to  grow 
in  every  egg,  and  at  length,  after  they  grow  strong 
enough,  they  break  through  the  eggs  and  come 
out.  So  I  got  eleven  chickens  from  my  hen, 
after  a  time." 

"  Eleven  ?  "  repeated  Lucy ;  "  were  there  just 
eleven  ? " 

"There  were  twelve,  but  one  died,"  replied 
Joanna.  "And  all  these  chickens  were  hatched 
in  a  stump." 

"  How  did  that  happen  ? "  asked  Lucy. 
8 


86  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Why,  the  hens  generally  used  to  lay  then 
eggs  in  the  bam,  and  I  used  to  go  in,  every  day,  to 
get  the  eggs.  I  earned  a  little  basket,  and  I  used 
to  climb  about  upon  the  hay,  and  feel  in  the  cribs ; 
and  I  generally  knew  where  all  the  nests  were. 
But  once  I  could  not  find  my  hen's  nest  for  several 
days ;  and  at  last  I  thought  I  would  watch  her,  and 
see  where  she  went.  I  did  watch  her,  and  I  saw 
her  go  into  a  hollow  place  in  a  great  black  stump, 
in  the  comer  of  the  yard.  After  she  came  out,  I 
went  and  looked  there,  and  I  found  four  eggs." 

"  What  did  you  do  then  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  concluded,  on  the  whole,  to  let  them 
stay,  and  let  my  hen  hatch  her  eggs  there,  if  she 
would.  And  I  told  my  brother,  that,  if  he  would 
make  a  coop  for  me,  around  that  stump,  I  would 
give  him  one  of  the  chickens." 

"  A  coop  1     What  is  a  coop  ? " 

"  O,  a  small  house  for  hens  to  live  in.  My  broth- 
er made  me  a  coop.  He  made  it  immediately 
after  the  hen  had  hatched  her  chickens.  I  will 
tell  you  how  he  made  it.  He  drove  stakes  down 
all  around  the  stump,  and  then  put  some  short 
boards  over  the  top,  so  as  to  cover  it  over.  My 
hen  staid  there  until  her  chickens  got  pretty  well 
grown,  and  then  we  let  her  run  about  the  yard." 


87 


"  That  is  pretty  much  the  way  that  Royal 
made  his  turtle-pen,"  said  Lucy ;  "  but  I  should 
rather  have  a  hen-coop,  because  of  the  chick- 
ens." 

"  Yes,  I  had  eleven.  I  gave  my  brother  one, 
and  then  I  had  ten.  These  all  grew  up,  and  laid 
more  eggs  ;  and  at  last  I  got  money  enough  from 
my  eggs  and  poultry  to  buy  me  a  new  gown." 

"  I  wish  I  was  a  farmer's  daughter,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Farmers'  daughters  have  a  very  good  time," 
said  Joanna,  "  I  think  myself." 


!*S,a.iai«g-^l#=' 


88  lucy's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION   VIII. 
BUILDING. 

In  one  of  the  yards  belonging  to  the  house  that 
Lucy  lived  in-,  was  a  border  for  flowers;  and  in 
tliis  border  Royal  had  an  apple-tree,  which  had 
grown  up  from  a  seed  which  he  had  planted  him- 
self. It  was  now  nearly  as  high  as  his  head,  and 
Royal  said  that  he  meant  to  graft  it  the  very  next 
spring. 

At  the  end  of  this  border,  near  one  corner  of  the 
yard,  there  was  a  vacant  place,  where  some  flow- 
ers had  been  dug  up,  and  Lucy  had  it  to  plant 
beans  in.  She  used  often  to  dig  in  it,  and  plant, 
when  she  had  nothing  else  to  do.  Miss  Anne 
gave  her  several  different  kinds  of  flower  seeds 
in  the  spring,  and  she  planted  them.  Generally, 
however,  she  had  not  patience  enough  to  wait  foi 
them  to  come  up  ;  but  dug  the  ground  all  ovei 
again,  with  her  little  hoe,  before  the  flowers,  which 
she  had  planted,  had  had  time  to  show  themselves 
above  the  ground. 

She  was  digging,  one  day,  in  this  garden,  and 


BUILDING.  89 

Royal  was  hoeing  up  the  weeds  around  his  apple- 
tree.  Royal  said  that  his  apple-tree  was  growing 
crooked,  and  that  he  was  going  to  get  a  stake, 
and  drive  it  down  by  the  side  of  his  tree,  and  tie 
a  string  to  it,  and  so  straighten  the  tree  up. 

Lucy  came  to  see  Royal  stake  up  his  tree. 
He  made  the  stake  very  sharp,  and  when  he  got 
it  all  ready  to  drive,  he  said  that  he  must  go  and 
get  the  iron  bar  to  make  a  hole. 

"  O,  you  can  drive  it  right  in,"  said  Lucy, 
"  without  making  any  hole." 

"  Not  far  enough,"  said  Royal.  "  It  must  be 
driven  in  very  deep  and  strong,  or  else  the  string 
which  ties  the  apple-tree  to  it,  will  pull  it  over  to 
one  side." 

So  Royal  wrent  and  got  the  small  crowbar, 
and  came  back  dragging  it  alon£.  He  made  a 
deep  hole  by  the  side  of  the  apple-tree,  but  not 
very  near  it,  for  he  did  not  want  to  hurt  the  roots. 
Then  he  took  out  the  bar,  and  laid  it  down  upon 
the  grass,  and  inserted  the  point  of  the  stake  into 
the  hole  which  he  had  made. 

While  he  was  doing  this,  Lucy  took  hold  of 
one  end  of  the  iron  bar,  and  tried  to  lift  it. 

"  O,  what  a  heavy  bar !  "  said  she. 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  very  heavy,"  said  Royal. 
•S* 


90  lucy's  conevrsations. 

So  saying,  he  drove  down  his  stake  with  repeatea 
blows  of  his  hatchet. 

"  You  are  a  great  deal  stronger  than  I  am," 
said  Lucy.  "  You  can  drive  the  stake  down 
very  hard  indeed.  I  don't  believe  but  that  you 
could  make  a  hen-coop." 

"  Who  told  you  anything  about  a  hen-coop  ? " 
said  Royal. 

"Joanna,"  said  Lucy.  "She  said  that  she 
was  a  fanner's  daughter  when  she  was  a  little 
girl,  and  that  she  had  a  hen  and  some  chickens  ; 
and  that  her  brother  made  her  a  hen-coop  pretty 
much  like  the  turtle-pen  you  made  down  by  the 
brook."  I 

'i  I  could  make  a  hen-coop,"  said  Royal",  "  I 
know,  —  and  I  mean  to.  Perhaps  I  can  get 
some  hens  to  put  into  it.  At  all  events,  I  shall 
have  a  hen-coop." 

"  If  I  was  a  farmer's  daughter,"  said  Lucy,  "  I 
should  have  hens." 

"  But  you  can  have  hens  without  being  a  farm- 
er's daughter,"  said  Royal. 

"  How  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  you  and  I  could  buy  some  hens  with 
our  own  money,  if  mother  would  let  us  ;  and  then 
I  could  make  a  coop." 


BUILDING.  91 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  mean  to  go  and  ask 
her  this  very  minute." 

"  No ;  stop,"  said  Royal.  "  That  won't  do  any 
good.  She  will  tell  you  to  ask  father,  and  then 
he  won't  believe  that  we  can  make  a  coop,  and 
he  won't  want  to  take  the  trouble  to  have  one 
made  for  us,  and  so  he  will  say  no.  I'll  tell  you 
what  we  must  do.  We  must  make  the  coop  first, 
and  then,,  when  it  is  all  ready,  we  can  ask  father 
if  we  may  buy  some  hens." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  tone  of  great  sat- 
isfaction, "  let  us  go  and  make  it  now." 

"  But  you  can't  help  make  it,  Lucy.  I  shall 
have  to  make  it  myself,  all  alone ;  and  so  the 
hens1'  must  be  mine." 

Lucy  did  not  like  the  plan  of  giving  up  ail  the 
hens  to  Royal ;  but  Royal  insisted  upon  it  that 
he  should  have  to  do  all  the  work,  and,  of  course, 
that  he  must  have  the  hens  himself.  At  last, 
Lucy  said  that,  if  he  did  not  let  her  have  a  share, 
she  should  not  stay  with  him,  but  should  go  into 
the  house. 

But  Royal  did  not  like  at  all  to  stay  and  work 
alone.  He  tried  to  get  Lucy  to  remain,  and  at 
last  he  said  that,  if  she  would,  he  would  make  her 
a  garden  in  the  corner,  —  a  beautiful  garden,  full 
of  flowers. 


92  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Real  flowers  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  real  flowers,  —  all  in  blossom." 

"  How  shall  you  get  the  flowers  to  grow  ?  " 
said  Lucy. 

"  O,  I  shall  get  them  already  grown,  in  the 
gardens,  and  in  the  fields,  and  stick  them  down  in 
the  beds.  I  shall  make  beds  and  little  alleys  just 
like  a  real  garden." 

"  And  how  long  will  the  flowers  keep  bright  ? " 
said  Lucy. 

,  "  O,  as  long  as  you  take  the  trouble  to  water 
them.  You  will  have  to  water  them,  you  know, 
—  and  Miss  Anne  will  lend  you  her  watering- 
pot." 

Lucy  was  pleased  with  this  proposal.  She 
liked  the  plan  of  having  such  a  garden  very 
much  ;  and  as  to  watering  it,  she  said  that  it 
would  be  no  trouble  at  all ;  she  should  like  to 
water  it.  So  it  was  agreed  that  Lucy  should 
stay  and  keep  Royal  company,  while  he  was 
making  the  coop,  and  help  him  all  she  could; 
and  that  he  should  make  her  a  flower-garden,  and 
stock  it  well  with  real  flowers,  —  and  so  have  all 
the  hens  himself. 

They  then  walked  along  together,  to  look  out 
a  place  for  a  coop.  Lucy  said  that  she  wished 
there  was  an  old  hollow  stump  in  their  yard,  but 


BUILDING.  93 

there  was  nothing  like  one.  Royal  said  that  he 
had  heard  of  a  barrel  for  a  hen-coop ;  and  he 
just  then  recollected  that  there  was  a  comer 
round  behind  the  barn,  where  there  were  several 
old  boxes  and  barrels  ;  and  he  and  Lucy  went 
there  to  see  if  they  could  find  one  which  would 
do.  He  found  one  that  would  answer  the  pur- 
pose very  well. 

Lucy  wanted  to  help  Royal  roll  it  along,  and 
Royal  allowed  her  to  do  it,  though  he  could  roll 
it  very  easily  himself  alone ;  for  it  was  empty  and 
light.  It  seemed  to  please  Lucy  to  help  him, 
and  so  Royal  allowed  her  to  push  it  with  him. 

They  were,  for  some  time,  in  doubt  where  it 
would  be  best  to  put  their  coop  ;  but  at  last  they 
concluded  to  put  it  under  the  trees,  by  the  side  of 
the  great,  flat  stone.  Lucy  said  that  this  was  an 
excellent  place,  because  she  could  sit  at  Miss 
Anne's  window,  when  it  was  rainy,  so  that  she 
could  not  go  out,  and  see  the  hens  and  chickens. 

Royal  placed  the  barrel  down  upon  its  side, 
near  the  great  stone,  and  drove  down  stakes  on 
each  side  of  it,  to  keep  it  from  rolling.  Then  he 
made  a  great  many  other  stakes  out  of  narrow 
pieces  of  board,  which  he  found  around  a  pile  of 
lumber  behind  the  bam. 

As   fast  as  these  stakes   were   finished,  Lucy 


94  lucy's  conversations. 

wheeled  them  along,  upon  a  little  wheelbarrow, 
to  the  place  where  the  coop  was  to  be  made.  So 
Royal  found  that,  besides  keeping  him  company, 
Lucy  could  really  assist  him,  much  more  than  he 
had  at  first  supposed  she  could. 

Royal  drove  the  stakes  down  into  the  ground, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  enclose  a  square  place.  The 
fence  formed  the  back  side  of  this  enclosure,  and 
it  was  big  enough  to  hold  several  hens,  and  to 
give  them  room  to  walk  about  a  little.  When  it 
was  nearly  done,  Lucy  said  that  she  meant  to  go 
and  ask  Joanna  to  come  out  and  see  it,  to  tell 
them  if  it  would  do. 

Royal  said  that  he  should  like  to  have  her  go, 
very  much  ;  though  he  was  pretty  sure  that  the 
coop  would  do  very  well.  Lucy  ran  off  into  the 
house,  and  after  a  little  while  she  appeared  again 
leading  Joanna. 

"  Yes,"  said  Joanna,  —  after  she  had  looked 
at  the  coop  a  minute  or  two,  with  a  smile  upon 
her  countenance,  —  "yes,  that  is  quite  a  coop, 
really." 

"  Isn't  it  a  good  coop  ? "  said  Royal.  "  See 
hqw  strong  these  stakes  are  driven  into  the 
ground." 

"  It  is  a  great  deal  better  than  I  thought  you 
could  make,"  said  Joanna. 


BUILDING.  95 

Joanna's  commendations  were  not  quite  so  un- 
qualified as  Royal  wished  them  to  be. 

"  Well,  don't  you  think,"  said  he,  "  that  it  will 
do  very  well  to  keep  hens  in  ? " 

"  Why,  it  is  an  excellent  coop  for  you  and 
Lucy  to  play  with,"  said  Joanna ;  "  but  as  to 
keeping  hens  in  it,  there  are  two  objections." 

"  What  are  they  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  the  foxes  and  cats  can  get  in,  and 
the  hens  and  chickens  can  get  out." 

"  How  ?  "  said  Royal.  "  How  can  the  hens 
get  out  ? " 

"  They  can  jump  over,"  said  Joanna. 

"  Well,  the  chickens  can't  jump  over,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  how  can  they  get  out  ?  " 

"  They  can  creep  through,"  said  Joanna, 
gravely. 

Royal  and  Lucy  both  looked  rather  blank  at 
these  very  serious  objections  to  their  work.  After 
a  moment's  pause,  Royal  said, 

"  Do  foxes  and  cats  kill  hens  and  chickens  ?  " 

"  They  lull  chickens,"  said  Joanna,  "  and  that 
is  one  great  reason  for  making  a  coop." 

"  Is  there  any  other  reason  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  sometimes  they  want  to  keep  the  hens 
from  straying  away  to  the  neighbors',  or  getting 


96  lucy's  conversations. 

into  the  garden,  and  scratching  up  the  seeds  and 
flowers." 

"  There  are  no  seeds  in  our  garden  now,"  said 
Royal. 

"  No,"  added  Lucy,  "  but  I  don't  want  to  have 
them  scratch  up  my  flowers." 

"  But,  Joanna,"  said  Royal,  "  is  not  this  just 
such  a  coop  as  your  brother  made  for  you  ?  Lucy 
said  it  was." 

"  It  is  like  it  in  the  stakes ;  but  mine  had  a 
cover  over  the  top  of  it." 

"  I  can  put  a  cover  over  this,"  said  Royal. 

"  O,  very  well ;  if  you  can  do  that,  I  think  it 
will  answer." 

After  Joanna  went  into  the  house,  Royal  tried 
to  contrive  some  way  to  put  a  cover  over  his 
coop ;  but  he  found  that  it  would  be  veiy  diffi- 
cult to  fasten  it  on.  The  tops  of  the  stakes  were 
not  steady  enough  to  nail  any  thing  to ;  and  be- 
sides, they  were  not  all  of  the  same  height ;  and, 
of  course,  if  he  should  put  boards  over  across,  they 
would  not  be  steady.     At  last  he  said, 

"  O  Lucy,  I  have  thought  of  another  plan." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  you  remember  those  great 
boxes  around  behind  the  barn,  where  we  got  our 
barrel." 


BUILDING. 


97 


Lucy  said  that  she  remembered  them  very  well. 

"  Now,"  continued  Royal,  "  I  will  get  one  of 
those  great  boxes  for  the  roof  of  my  coop.  There 
is  one  large,  flat  box,  which  will  be  just  the  thing 
I  will  pull  up  all  these  stakes,  and  drive  them 
down  again,  so  as  to  make  a  square,  just  as  big  as 
the  box." 

"  I  don't  understand,  exactly,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Royal,  "  it  is  not  necessary 
to  explain  it.  You  shall  see  how  I  will  do  it ;  let 
us  go  and  get  the  box." 

Royal  and  Lucy  went  together  to  get  the  box. 
They  found  one  there  which  Royal  said  would  do 
very  well ;  the  bottom  of  it  was  about  as  large  as 
a  common  tea  table ;  but  the  sides  were  narrow, 
so  that,  when  it  was  placed  upon  the  ground, 
with  the  open  part  up,  it  was  not  very  deep. 

Royal  attempted  to  roll  this  box  out ;  but  he 
found  it  much  harder  to  move  than  the  barrel  was. 
This  was  partly  because  it  was  larger  and  heavier, 
and  partly  because  it  would  not  roll,  on  account 
of  its  square  form. 

However,  they  contrived  to  get  it  out,  and  to 
work  it  along  through  a  gate  which  led  into  a 
large  outer  yard.  By  this  time,  however,  they 
both  got  tired,  and  Royal  said  that  he  meant  to 
get  some  rollers,  and  roll  it  along. 
9 


98  lucy's  conversations. 

So  he  brought  some  round  sticks  of  wood  from 
the  wood  pile,  for  rollers ;  and  with  a  bar  of  wood, 
which  he  found  also  upon  the  wood  pile,  he  pried 
the  box  up,  and  Lucy  put  two  rollers  under  it,  one 
at  each  end.  They  also  placed  another  roller  a 
little  way  before  the  box.  Royal  then  went  be- 
hind the  box,  and  with  his  bar  of  wood  for  a 
lever,  he  pried  the  box  along ;  and  he  found  it 
moved  very  easily  upon  the  rollers. 

Lucy  wanted  a  lever  too,  —  and  she  went  and 
got  one ;  and  then  they  could  both  pry  the  box 
along,  one  at  each  corner,  behind.  They  had  to 
stop  occasionally  to  adjust  the  rollers,  when  they 
worked  out  of  place ;  but,  by  patience  and  perse- 
verance, they  gradually  moved  the  box  along 
until  they  came  to  the  gate  leading  into  the  inner 
yard,  where  the  place  for  the  coop  had  been 
chosen. 

They  found  some  difficulty  in  getting  it  through 
the  gate,  because  it  was  too  large  to  go  through  in 
uiy  way  but  by  being  lifted  up  upon  its  side. 
Royal,  however,  succeeded  in  lifting  it  up,  and  then 
in  getting  it  through ;  and  after  that  it  was  but  a 
short  work  to  move  it  along  upon  its  rollers  to  its 
place  of  destination. 

Royal  sat  down  upon  the  great,  flat  stone,  and 
said  that  he  was  tired,  and  that  he  had  a  great 


BUILDING.  99 

mind  not  to  make  a  coop  after  all,  —  it  was  such 
hard  work. 

"  Then,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  don't  think  you  will 
be  very  persevering." 

"  I  don't  believe  you  know  what  persevering 
means,"  said  Royal. 

;'  Yes,  I  do,"  said  Lucy ;  "  Miss  Anne  told  me. 
It  is  when  you  begin  to  make  a  coop,  and  then 
give  up  before  you  get  it  done." 

Royal  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter. 

"  No,"  said  Lucy ;  "  not  that,  exactly.  I 
mean  it  is  when  you  don't  give  up  —  and  I  think 
you  ought  not  to  give  up  now  —  making  this 
coop." 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  I  believe  you  are  right. 
It  would  be  very  foolish  to  give  up  our  coop  now, 
when  we  have  got  all  the  hardest  part  of  our 
work  done.     I'll  go  and  get  the  corner  stakes." 

Royal  then  went  and  made  four  strong  stakes 
for  the  four  corners,  and  brought  them  to  the 
place,  and  drove  them  down  into  the  ground.  He 
took  care  to  have  them  at  just  such  a  distance 
from  each  other,  as  that  they  should  come  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  four  comers  of  the  box,  when  it 
should  be  placed  over  them. 

Then  he  drove  a  row  of  stakes  along  where  the 
sides  of  the  box  would  come,  between  the  corner 


100  lucy's  conversations. 

stakes  on  each  side ;  and  he  drove  these  all  down 
a  little  lower  than  the  corner  stakes,  so  that,  when 
the  box  should  be  placed  over  them,  it  would  rest 
upon  the  corners,  and  not  upon  the  sides.  Before 
he  closed  the  last  side,  he  rolled  the  barrel  in,  and 
placed  it  along  by  the  fence.  Then  he  put  a 
roller  under  it,  on  the  outer  side,  —  so  that  thus 
the  barrel  was  confined,  and  could  not  move 
either  way. 

"  Now,  Lucy,  we  are  ready  for  a  raising,"  said 
Royal ;  "  but  we  shall  never  be  able  to  get  the 
box  up,  by  ourselves,  if  we  work  all  day." 

They  concluded  to  ask  Joanna  to  come  out 
again,  and  help  them  get  the  box  up.  She  came 
very  willingly,  and  all  three  of  them  together  easi- 
ly succeeded  in  putting  the  heavy  box  into  its 
place ;  and  Royal  had  the  satisfaction  of  perceiv- 
ing that  it  fitted  very  well.  Joanna  then  said  that, 
for  aught  she  could  see,  their  structure  would 
make  a  very  safe  and  convenient  coop. 

When  their  father  and  mother  came  to  see  their 
work  that  evening,  their  father  said  that  it  would 
do  very  well  for  a  coop,  but  that  it  was  too  late  in 
the  year  to  get  hens. 

"  If  I  get  some  hens  for  you,"  said  he,  "  it  will 
be  several  weeks  before  they  lay  eggs  enough 
to  hatch ;  and  then  the  chickens  would  not  have 


BUILDING.  101 

grown  enough  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  cold 
of  the  winter.  It  is  full  as  late  now  as  any  brood 
of  chickens  ought  to  come  out." 

Royal  and  Lucy  looked  greatly  disappointed  at 
this  unexpected  announcement.  It  was  a  diffi- 
culty that  had  not  occurred  to  them  at  all.  Their 
father  was  always  very  much  pressed  with  his 
business,  and  could  seldom  give  much  time  or  at- 
tention to  their  plays ;  but  they  thought  that,  if 
they  could  make  all  the  arrangements,  so  that 
they  could  take  care  of  the  hens  without  troubling 
him,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  at  all.  They 
did  not  know  but  that  hens  would  lay  and  hatch 
as  well  and  as  safely  at  one  time  as  at  another. 

Lucy  had  some  com  in  her  hand.  Her  father 
asked  her  what  that  was  for.  She  said  it  was  to 
put  into  the  coop  for  the  hens.  She  had  asked 
Joanna  for  some,  and  she  had  given  it  to  her,  be- 
cause she  said  she  wanted  some  corn  all  ready. 

Here  her  mother  whispered  something  to  her 
father,  which  Lucy  and  Royal  did  not  hear. 

"Yes,"  said  he,  in  a  low  tone,  in  reply,  speak- 
ing to  her  mother,  "  perhaps  I  can ;  veiy  likely." 

Royal  wondered  what  they  were  talking  about, 
but  he  did  not  ask. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  her  father,  "  throw  youi 
corn  into  the  coop,  and  about  the  door ;  perhaps 
9* 


102  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

yob  can  catch  some  hens  in  it.  Who  knows  but 
that  it  will  do  for  a  trap  ? " 

"  O  father,"  said  Royal,  "  you  are  only  making 
fun  of  us." 

"  Why,  you  have  caught  squirrels,  haven't  you, 
time  and  again  ?  and  why  not  hens  ? " 

"  Nonsense,  father,"  said  Royal ;  c;  there  are  no 
hens  to  come  and  get  caught  in  traps." 

"  Perhaps,  Royal, "  said  Lucy,  as  she  scattered 

her  corn  into  the  coop,  "  Perhaps. We  will 

put  in  the  corn,  at  least,  —  and  leave  the  door 
open." 

So  Lucy  put  the  corn  in  and  about  the  door ; 
and  then  the  party  all  went  away  laughing.  Lucy 
forgot  her  disappointment  in  the  hope  of  catching 
some  hens,  and  Royal  in  the  amusement  excited 
by  such  an  idea  as  setting  a  trap  for  poultry. 


EQUIVOCATION.  103 

CONVERSATION   IX. 
EQUIVOCATION. 

Immediately  after  breakfast,  the  next  morning, 
Lucy  went  out  to  look  at  the  coop,  to  see  if  any 
hens  had  been  caught ;  and  when  she  came  back, 
and  said  that  there  were  none  there,  her  father  said 
that  she  must  not  despair  too  soon, — -sometimes 
a  trap  was  out  several  nights  before  anything  was 
taken. 

That  day,  after  Royal  had  finished  his  lessons, 
Lucy  called  upon  him  to  fulfil  his  promise  of 
making;  her  a  garden. 

"  Why,  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  "  I  don't  think  I  am 
under  any  obligation  to  make  you  any  garden." 

"Yes,  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "you  promised  me 
that  you  would,  if  I  would  help  you  make  the 
coop." 

"  Well,  that  was  because  I  expected  that  we 
could  have  some  hens  ;  but,  now  that  we  can- 
not have  any  hens,  the  coop  will  not  do  us  any 
good  at  all ;  and  I  don't  see  that  I  ought  to  make 
you  a  garden  for  nothing." 


104  lu.cy's  conversations. 

Lucy  did  not  know  how  in  answer  this  rea- 
soning, but  she  was  very  far  from  being  satisfied 
with  it.  She,  however,  had  nothing  to  say,  but 
that  he  had  agreed  to  make  her  a  warden,  and 
that  she  thought  he  ought  to  do  it. 

Royal  said  that  he  meant  if  they  got  any  hens 
to  put  into  the  coop  ;  and  Lucy  said  she  did  not 
believe  that  he  meant  any  such  thing. 

Royal  was  wrong  in  refusing  thus  to  fulfil  Ins 
agreement.  And  the  reason  which  he  gave  was 
not  a  good  reason.  He  did,  indeed,  expect,  when 
he  made  the  promise,  that  he  should  have  some 
hens  to  put  into  his  hen-coop ;  but  he  did  not 
make  his  promise  on  that  condition.  The  prom- 
ise was  absolute  —  if  she  would  help  him  make 
his  coop,  he  would  make  her  a  garden.  When 
she  had  finished  helping  him  make  the  coop,  her 
part  of  the  agreement  was  fulfilled,  and  he  was 
bound  to  fulfil  his. 

At  last  Lucy  said, 

"  If  you  don't  make  me  a  garden,  I  shall  go 
and  tell  Joanna  of  you." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Royal ;  "  we  will  go  and 
leave  it  to  Joanna,  and  let  her  decide." 

They  went  in  and  stated  the  case  to  Joanna. 
When  she  heard  all  the  facts,  she  decided  at  once 
against  Royal. 


EQUIVOCATION.  105 

"  Certainly  you  ought  to  make  her  a  garden," 
said  Joanna.  "  There  being  no  hens  has  nothing 
to  do  with  it.  You  took  the  risk.  You  took  the 
risk." 

Lucy  did  not  understand  what  Joanna  meant 
by  taking  the  risk,  but  she  understood  that  the  de- 
cision was  in  her  favor,  and  she  ran  off  out  of  the 
kitchen  in  great  glee.     Royal  followed  her  mo! 
slowly. 

"  Well,  Lucy,"  said  he,  "  I'll  make  you  a  gar- 
den.    I'd  as  lief  make  it  as  not." 

He  accordingly  worked  very  industriously  upon 
the  garden  for  more  than  an  hour.  He  dug  up 
all  the  ground  with  his  hoe,  and  then  raked  it 
over  carefully.  Then  he  marked  out  an  alley 
through  the  middle  of  it,  for  Lucy  to  walk  in, 
when  she  was  watering  her  flowers.  He  also 
divided  the  sides  into  little  beds,  though  the  paths 
between  the  beds  were  too  narrow  to  walk  in. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  Lucy,  for  the  flowers." 

So  they  set  off  upon  an  expedition  after  flow- 
ers. They  got  some  in  the  garden,  and  some  in 
the  fields.  Some  Royal  took  up  by  the  roots ; 
but  most  of  them  were  broken  off  at  the  stem,  so 
as  to  be  stuck  down  into  the  ground.  Lucy 
asked  him  if  they  would  grow  ;  and  he  said  that 
he  did  not  know  that  they  would  grow  much,  but 


106  lucy's  conversations. 

they  would  keep  bright  and  beautiful  as  long  as 
she  would  water  them. 

Miss  Anne  lent  Lucy  her  watering-pot,  to 
water  her  flowers,  and  she  said  that,  after  dinner, 
she  would  go  out  and  see  her  garden.  Accord- 
ingly, after  dinner,  they  made  preparations  to  go. 
While  Miss  Anne  was  putting  on  her  sun-bonnet, 
Royal  waited  for  her ;  but  Lucy  ran  out  before 
them.  In  a  moment,  however,  after  she  had  gone 
out,  she  came  running  back  in  the  highest  state 
of  excitement,  calling  out, 

"  O  Royal,  we  have  caught  them !  we  have 
caught  them !  O,  come  and  see !  come,  Miss 
Anne,  come  quick  and  see  !  " 

And  before  they  had  time  to  speak  to  her,  or 
even  to  ask  what  she  meant,  she  was  away  again, 
calling,  as  she  passed  away  from  hearing,  "  Come, 
come,  come ! " 

Royal  left  Miss  Anne,  and  ran  off  after  Lucy. 

Miss  Anne  herself  walked  along  after  them, 
and  found  them  looking  through  the  bars  of  the 
hen-coop,  and  in  a  state  of  the  highest  delight 
at  the  sis;ht  of  a  hen  and  a  large  brood  of  chick- 
ens,  which  were  walking  about  within. 

"  O,  look,  Miss  Anne !  "  said  Lucy,  clapping 
her  hands  as  Miss  Anne  came  up.  "  A  real  hen, 
and  ever  so  manv  chickens ! " 


EQUIVOCATION.  107 

"  Where  could  they  have  come  from  ? "  said 
Miss  Anne. 

"  G,  we  caught  them,"  said  Lucy ;  "  we 
caught  them.  I  told  you,  Royal,  that  perhaps  we 
should  catch  some." 

"  How  did  they  get  here  ?  "  said  Royal.  "  It 
is  some  of  father's  sly  work,  I  know.  Do  you 
know,  Miss  Anne,  how  they  came  here  ?  " 

"  Let  us  see  how  many  chickens  there  are," 
said  Miss  Anne.  "  One,  two,  three,"  —  and  so 
she  went  on  counting  up  to  thirteen. 

"  Thirteen,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  only  think  !  More 
than  Joanna's,  isn't  it,  Royal  ?  Thirteen  is  more 
than  eleven,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  two  more,"  said  Royal ;  "  but,  Miss 
Anne,  don't  you  know  how  they  came  here  ?  " 

Miss  Anne  looked  rather  sly,  but  did  not  an- 
swer.    She  said  to  Lucy, 

"  Well,  Lucy,  let  us  go  and  see  your  garden." 

Lucy  did  not  now  care  so  much  about  her 
garden  ;  she  was  more  interested  in  the  chickens  ; 
however,  they  all  went  to  look  at  it,  and  Miss 
Anne  praised  it  veiy  highly.  She  said  the  flow- 
ers looked  beautifully. 

"And  now,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "when- 
ever I  want  any  flowers,  I  can  come  out  here  and 
gather  them  out  of  my  garden." 


JOS  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  as  long  as  they 
last." 

"  O,  they  will  last  all  the  time,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Will  they  ? "  said  Miss  Anne,  rather  doubt- 
fully. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "I  am  going  to  water 
them," 

"  That  will  help,"  replied  Miss  Anne,  "  I  have 
no  doubt." 

"  I  can  keep  them  fresh  as  long  as  I  want  to, 
in  that  way,"  said  Lucy.     "  Royal  said  so." 

"  Did  you,  Royal  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  No,"  said  Royal.  "  I  said  that  they  would 
keep  fresh  as  long  as  she  watered  them." 

"  That  wasn't  quite  honest,  was  it,  Royal  ? 
for  they  won't  keep  fresh  more  than  two  days." 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  and  she  won't  have  pa- 
tience to  water  them  more  than  one  day." 

"  That's  equivocation,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Equivocation  ?  "  repeated  Royal ;  "  what  do 
you  mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  It  is1  when  anything  you  say  has  two  senses, 
and  it  is  true  in  one  sense,  and  not  true  in  another ; 
and  you  mean  to  have  any  person  understand  it 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  not  true." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ? "  said  Lucy. 

''  Why,  I  will  give  you   an  example.     Once 


EQUIVOCATION.  109 

there  was  a  boy  who  told  his  brother  William, 
that  there  was  a  black  dog  up  in  the  garret,  and 
William  ran  up  to  see.  His  brother  came  up  be- 
hind him,  and,  when  they  opened  the  garret  door, 
he  pointed  to  an  old  andiron,  such  as  are  called 
dogs,  and  said, '  See !  there  he  is,  standing  on  three 
legs.' " 

Royal  laughed  very  heartily  at  this  story.  Fie 
was  much  more  amused  at  the  waggery  of  such 
a  case  of  eauivocation,  than  impressed  with  the 
dishonesty  of  it. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  he,  "  I  don't  see  that  there 
was  any  great  harm  in  that." 

"  Equivocation  is  not  wrong  always,"  said  Miss 
Anne.     "  Riddles  are  often  equivocations." 

"  Tell  us  one,"  said  Roval 

"  Why,  there  is  your  old  riddle  of  the  carpenter 
cutting  the  door.  He  cut  it,  and  cut  it,  and  cut 
it,  and  cut  it  too  little ;  then  he  cut  it  again,  and 
it  fitted." 

"  Is  that  an  equivocation  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  the  equivocation  is 
in  the  word  little.  It  may  mean  that  he  cut  too 
little,  or  that  he  cut  until  the  door  was  too  little. 
Now,  when  you  give  out  that  riddle,  you  mean 
that  the  person  whom  you  are  talking  with, 
should  understand  it  in  the  last  sense;  that  is, 
10 


110  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

that  he  cut  until  the  door  was  too  little,  and  then 
that  he  cut  it  more,  and  it  was  just  right.  But 
it  cannot  be  true  in  that  sense.  It  is  true  only 
in  the  other  sense ;  that  is,  that  he  did  not  cut 
it  enough,  and  then,  when  he  cut  it  more,  he  made 
it  fit.  So  that  he  cut  it  too  little,  has  two  senses. 
The  words  are  true  in  one  sense ;  but  you  mean 
to  have  them  understood  in  the  other  sense,  in 
which  they  cannot  be  true.  And  that  is  an  equiv- 
ocation. 

'•'  But,  then,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  equivoca- 
tions in  riddles  are  certainly  not  wrong ;  but  equiv- 
ocations in  our  dealings  with  one  another  certainly 
are," 

"  I  don't  think  that  the  boy  that  said  there  was 
a  dog  up  garret  did  any  thing  wrong,"  said  Royal. 

"  I  do,"  said  Lucy,  putting  down  her  little  foot 
with  great  emphasis.  "  I  think  he  did  veiy  wrong 
indeed." 

"  O  no,  Lucy,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  not  very 
wrong  indeed.  Perhaps  it  was  not  quite  right. 
But  it  is  certainly  wrong  to  gain  any  advantage 
from  any  person  in  your  dealings  with  them,  by 
equivocation." 

"  Did  I  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Yes,  I  think  you  did,  a  little.  You  told  Lucy 
that  the  flowers  would  keep  fresh  as  long  as  she 


EQUIVOCATION.  Ill 

would  water  them.  You  meant  her  to  understand 
it  absolutely  ;  but  it  is  true  only  in  another  sense." 

"  In  what  sense  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  as  long  as  she  would  be  likely  to  water 
them ;  which  is  a  very  different  thing.  Perhaps 
she  would  not  have  been  willing  to  make  the 
bargain  with  you,  if  she  had  understood  that  she 
could  not  keep  them  fresh  by  watering  them,  more 
than  a  day  or  two." 

While  they  had  been  talking  thus,  they  had 
gradually  been  walking  towards  the  house,  and 
they  had  now  reached  the  door.  Miss  Anne 
went  in,  and  Lucy  and  Royal  went  to  the  hen- 
coop to  see  the  hen  and  chickens. 

Lucy  went  to  get  some  com,  but  Joanna  told 
her  that  crumbs  of  bread  would  be  better,  and 
then  the  old  hen  could  break  them  up  into  small 
pieces,  and  feed  her  chickens  with  them.  She 
accordingly  gave  her  some  small  pieces  of  bread, 
which  Lucy  earned  back ;  and  she  and  Royal 
amused  themselves  for  a  long  time,  by  throwing 
crumbs  in  through  the  spaces  between  the  sticks. 

While  they  were  talking  about  them,  Royal 
happened  to  speak  of  them  as  his  hen  and  chick- 
ens, and  Lucy  said  that  she  thought  he  ought  not 
to  have  them  all.  She  wanted  some  herself,  —  at 
least  some  of  the  chickens. 


112  lucy's  conversations. 

"  .0  no,"  said  Royal ;  "  they  are  altogether 
mine ;  it  is  my  coop." 

"  No,"  replied  Lucy ;  "  I  helped  you  make  the 
coop,  and  I  mean  to  have  some  of  the  chickens." 

"  Yes,  but,  Lucy,  you  promised  me  that  1 
should  have  the  coop  and  jjbe  hens,  if  I  would 
make  you  a  garden." 

"  Yes,  but  not  the  chickens,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  did 
not  say  a  word  about  the  chickens." 

"  O  Lucy,  that  was  because  we  did  not  expect 
to  have  any  chickens ;  but  it  is  all  the  same 
thing." 

"  What  is  all  the  same  thing  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  hens  and  chickens,"  said  Royal. 

"  O  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "  they  are  very  differ- 
ent indeed."  Lucy  looked  through  the  bars  of  the 
hen-coop,  at  the  hen  and  chickens,  and  was  quite 
surprised  that  Royal  could  say  that  they  were  all 
the  same  thing. 

"  In  a  bargain,  Lucy,  I  mean ;  in  a  bargain,  I 
mean.  If  you  make  a  bargain  about  hens,  you 
mean  all  the  chickens  too." 

"  I  didn't,  I  am  sure,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  never 
thought  of  such  a  thing  as  the  chickens ;  and  be 
sides,  you  did  not  make  me  such  a  garden  as  you 
promised  me." 

"  Why,  yes  I  did,"  said  Royal. 


EQUIVOCATION.  113 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  you  told  me  an  equivo- 
cation." 

Royal  laughed. 

"  You  did,  Royal ;  you  know  you  did ;  and 
Miss  Anne  said  so. 

"  J  think  it  was  a  falsehood,  myself,"  continued 
Lucy,  "  or  almost  a  falsehood." 

"  O  no,  Lucy ;  1  don't  think  you  would  water 
them  more  than  one  day,  and  I  knew  that  they 
would  keep  fresh  as  long  as  that." 

Lucy  was  silent.  She  did  not  know  exactly 
how  to  reply  to  Royal's  reasoning ;  but  she 
thought  it  was  very  hard,  that  out  of  the  whole 
thirteen  chickens,  Royal  would  not  let  her  have 
any  to  call  hers. 

She  told  Royal  that  she  only  wanted  two ;  if 
he  would  let  her  have  two,  she  should  be  satis- 
fied ;  —  but  Royal  said  that  he  wanted  them  all ; 
that  she  had  the  garden,  and  he  must  have  the 
hen  and  chickens. 

Lucy  might  very  probably  have  said  something 
further  on  the  subject;  but  at  that  moment  she 
spied  a  little  chicken,  with  black  and  yellow 
feathers,  just  creeping  through  between  the  bars 
of  the  coop.  A  moment  more,  and  he  was  fairly 
out  upon  the  grass  outside. 
10* 


LI 4  lucy's  conversations. 

"  O  Royal ! "  exclaimed  Lucy,  "  one  is  out ' 
one  is  out !  I  can  catch  him." 

"  No,"  said  Royal,  "  let  me  catch  him.  You 
will  hurt  him." 

They  both  started  up,  and  ran  after  the  chicken  ; 
while  he,  frightened  at  their  pursuit,  and  at  his 
strange  situation  in  the  grass,  ran  off  farther  and 
farther,  peeping  with  great  earnestness  and  noise. 
Royal  caught  at  him,  but  did  not  catch  him.  He 
darted  off  towards  where  Lucy  was,  and  at  that 
instant  Lucy  clapped  her  hand  over  him,  and 
held  him  a  prisoner. 

The  poor  hen  was  much  alarmed  at  the  cries 
of  the  lost  chicken  ;  and  she  pushed  her  head 
through  the  bars  of  the  cage,  trying  to  get  out, 
and  apparently  in  great  distress. 

"  Give  him  to  me,"  said  Royal,  "  and  I'll  put 
him  back  again." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "lam  going  to  carry  him  in, 
and  show  him  to  Joanna." 

"  O,  well,"  said  Royal,  "  only  give  him  to  me, 
and  let  me  carry  him.     You  will  hurt  him." 

"  No,  I  won't  hurt  him,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  I  will  be 
very  careful  indeed." 

So  she  put  the  tender  little  animal  very  gently 
in  one  of  her  hands,  and  covered  him  with  the 
other. 


EQUIVOCATION. 


117 


"  O,  what  soft  feathers  ! "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal ;  "  and  see  his  little  bill 
sticking  out  between  your  fingers !  " 

Thus  they  went  into  the  house,  —  first  to  Jo- 
anna, and  afterwards  to  Miss  Anne ;  and  the 
hen,  when  the  lost  chicken  was  out  of  hearing, 
soon  regained  her  composure.  She  had  a  dozen 
chickens  left,  and  as  she  could  not  count,  she  did 
Dot  know  but  that  there  were  thirteen. 


1 18  lucy's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION    X. 
JOHNNY. 

Miss  Anne  was  very  much  pleased  to  see  tile 
little  chicken.  She  sent  Royal  out  after  a  small;, 
square  piece  of  board.  While  he  was  gone,  she 
got  a  small  flake  of  cotton  batting,  and  also  an 
old  work-basket,  from  the  upper  shelf  of  her 
closet.  Then,  when  Royal  came  in  with  the 
board,  she  put  the  cotton  upon  it,  shaping  it  in 
the  form  of  a  nest.  She  put  the  chicken  upon 
this  nest,  and  then  turned  the  basket  down  over 
it,  which  formed  a  sort  of  cage,  to  keep  the  little 
prisoner  from  getting  away.  Royal  and  Lucy 
could  look  through  the  open-work  of  the  basket, 
and  see  him. 

But  Miss  Anne,  though  pleased  with  the  chick- 
en, was  very  sorry  to  find  that  Royal  had  so  mo- 
nopolizing a  spirit.  A  monopolizing  spirit  is  an 
eager  desire  to  get  for  ourselves,  alone,  that  which 
others  ought  to  have  a  share  of.  Royal  wanted 
to  own  the  hen  and  chickens  himself,  and  to 
exclude,  or  shut  out,  Lucy  from  all  share  of  them. 


JOHNNY.  119 

He  wished  to  monopolize  them.  Too  eager  a 
desire  to  get  what  others  have,  is  sometimes  called 
covetousness.  Miss  Anne  resolved  to  have  a  con- 
versation with  Royal  about  his  monopolizing  and 
covetous  disposition. 

She  did  not,  however,  have  a  very  good  oppor- 
tunity until  several  days  after  this ;  but  then  a 
circumstance  occurred  which  naturally  introduced 
the  subject. 

The  circumstance  was  this. 

The  children  were  taking  a  walk  with  Miss 
Anne.  They  went  to  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  house,  by  a  path  through  the  woods,  and 
came  at  length  to  the  banks  of  a  mill  stream. 
The  water  tumbled  over  the  rocks  which  filled 
the  bed  of  the  stream.  There  was  a  narrow  road 
along  the  bank,  and  Miss  Anne  turned  into  this 
road,  and  walked  along  up  towards  the  mill,  which 
was  only  a  short  distance  above. 

They  saw,  before  them,  at  a  little  distance,  a 
boy  about  as  large  as  Royal,  cutting  off  the  end 
of  a  long,  slender  pole. 

"  O,  see  what  a  beautiful  fishing-pole  that  boy 
has  got ! "  said  Royal. 

"Is  that  a  fishing-pole?"  said  Lucy. 

Just  then  the  boy  called  out,  as  if  he  was 
speaking  to  somebody  in  the  bushes. 


120  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Come,  George ;  ain't  you  most  ready  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  George,  "  I  have  got  mine 
just  ready;  but  I  want  to  get  a  little  one  for 
Johnny." 

"  O,  never  mind  Johnny,"  said  the  other  boy ; 
"he  can't  fish." 

By  this  time,  the  children  had  advanced  so  far 
that  they  could  see  George  and  Johnny,  in  a  little 
open  place  among  the  bushes.  George  was  about 
as  large  as  the  other  boy ;  and  he  was  just  finish- 
ing the  trimming  up  of  another  pole,  very  much 
like  the  one  which  the  children  had  seen  first. 
There  was  a  very  small  boy  standing  by  him, 
who,  as  the  children  supposed,  was  Johnny.  He 
was  looking  on,  while  George  finished  his  pole. 

" /would  not  get  Johnny  one,"  said  the  boy 
in  the  road.     "  He  can't  do  any  thing  with  it." 

"  No,"  said  George,  "  but  he  will  like  to  have 
one,  so  that  he  can  make  believe  fish  ;  shouldn't 
you,  Johnny  ? " 

"  Yes,"  said  Johnny ;  or  rather  he  said  some- 
thing that  meant  yes ;  for  he  could  not  speak  very 
plain. 

"  Well,"  said  the  boy  in  the  road,  "  I  am  not 
going  to  wait  any  longer."  He  accordingly  shut 
up  his  knife,  put  it  into  his  pocket,  and  walked 
along. 


JOHNNT.  121 

George  scrambled  back  into  the  bushes,  and 
began  to  look  about  for  a  pole  for  Johnny.  Miss 
Anne  and  the  children  were  now  opposite  to 
them. 

"  Johnny,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  do  you  expect 
that  you  can  catch  fishes  ? " 

Johnny  did  not  answer,  but  stood  motionless, 
gazing  upon  the  strangers  in  silent  wonder. 

Miss  Anne  smiled,  and  walked  on,  and  the 
children  followed  her.  Presently  George  and 
Johnny  came  up  behind  them,  —  George  walk- 
ing fast,  and  Johnny  trotting  along  by  his  side. 
When  they  had  got  before  them  a  little  way, 
they  turned  out  of  the  road  into  a  path  which  led 
down  towards  the  stream,  which  here  was  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  road.  The  path  led  in 
among  trees  and  bushes ;  and  so  Miss  Anne  and 
the  children  soon  lost  sight  of  them  entirely. 

"  George  seems  to  be  a  strange  sort  of  a  boy," 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Royal. 

"  Why,  he  cannot  be  contented  to  have  a  fish- 
ing-pole himself,  unless  little  Johnny  has  one 
too." 

"  Is  that  very  strange  ?  "  asked  Royal. 

"  I  thought  it  was  rather  unusual,"  said  Miss 
11 


122  lucy's  conversations. 

Anne.  "  Boys  generally  want  to  get  things  for 
themselves ;  but  I  did  not  know  that  they  were 
usually  so  desirous  to  have  their  brothers  grati- 
fied too." 

"  I  do,"  said  Royal ;  "  that  is,  I  should,  if  I 
had  a  brother  big  enough." 

"  You  have  a  sister,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  if  I  was  going  a  fishing, 
and  Lucy  was  going  too,  1  should  want  to  have 
her  have  a  fishing-pole  as  well  as  I." 

"  It  is  not  always  so  with  boys,  at  any  rate," 
said  Miss  Anne.  "  And  that  makes  me  think  of  a 
curious  thing  that  happened  once.  A  little  boy, 
whom  I  knew,  had  a  beautiful  picture-book  spoiled 
by  a  little  gray  dog,  in  a  very  singular  way." 

"  How  was  it?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Tell  us,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy ;  "  tell  us 
all  about  it." 

"  Well,  this  boy's  father  bought  him  a  very  beau- 
tiful picture-book,  with  colored  pictures  in  it,  and 
brought  it  home,  and  gave  it  to  him.  And  the 
next  day  the  little  gray  dog  spoiled  it  entirely." 

"  How  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Guess." 

"  Why,  he  bit  it,  and  tore  it  to  pieces  with  his 
teeth,  I  suppose, "  said  Lucy. 


JOHNNY.  123 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Then  he  must  have  trampled  on  it  with  his 
muddy  feet,"  said  Royal. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  it  could  not  be  in 
any  such  way,  for  it  was  not  a  live  dog." 

"  Not  a  live  dog  ! "  said  Lucy. 

"  No,  it  was  a  little  glass  dog,  —  gray  glass; 
only  he  had  black  ears  and  tail." 

"  I  don't  see  how  he  could  spoil  a  book,"  said 
Royal. 

"  He  did,"  answered  Miss  Anne. 

"  The  book  gave  Joseph  a  great  deal  of  pleas- 
ure before  the  dog  came,  and  after  that,  it  was 
good  for  nothing  to  him." 

"  Joseph  ? "  said  Royal ;  "  who  was  he  ?  " 

"  Why,  he  was  the  little  boy  that  had  the  book. 
Didn't  I  tell  you  his  name  before?  " 

"  No,"  said  Royal ;  "  but  tell  us  how  the  dog 
spoiled  the  book." 

"  Why,  you  must  understand,"  said  Miss  Anne, 
"  that  Joseph  had  a  little  sister  at  home,  named 
Mary ;  and  when  their  father  brought  home  the 
book  to  Joseph,  he  had  nothing  for  Mary.  But 
the  next  day,  he  was  in  a  toy-shop,  and  he  saw 
this  little  glass  dog,  and  he  thought  that  it  would 
be  a  very  pretty  little  present  for  Mary.  So 
he  bought  it,  and  carried  it  home  to  her." 


124  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Well,  Miss  Anne,  tell  on,"  said  Lucy,  when 
she  found  that  Miss  Anne  paused,  as  if  she  was 
not  going  to  say  anything  more. 

"  Why,  that  is  about  all,"  said  Miss  Anne, 
"  only  that  he  gave  the  dog  to  Mary." 

"  But  you  said  that  the  dog  spoiled  Joseph's 
book." 

"  So  it  did.  You  see,  when  Joseph  came  to  see 
the  dog,  he  wanted  it  himself,  so  much  that  he 
threw  his  book  down  upon  the  floor,  and  came 
begging  for  the  dog;  and  he  could  not  take 
any  pleasure  at  all  in  the  book  after  that." 

"  Is  that  all  ? "  said  Royal ;  "  I  supposed  it  was 
going  to  be  something  different  from  that." 

"  Then  you  don't  think  it  is  much  of  a  story ! " 

"  No,"  said  Royal. 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,  now,  I  thought,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that 
that  was  rather  a  singular  way  for  a  dog  to  spoil  a 
picture-book." 

There  was  a  moment's  pause  after  Miss  Anne 
had  said  these  words ;  and  then,  an  instant  af- 
terwards, the  whole  party  came  suddenly  out 
of  the  woods  ;  and  the  mill,  with  a  bridge  near  it, 
crossing  the  stream,  came  into  view. 

"  O,  there  is  a  bridge,"  said  Lucy ;  "  let  us  go 
over  that  bridge." 


JOHNNY.  125 

"  Well,"  said  Royal,  "  so  we  will. 

They  walked  on  towards  the  bridge ;  but,  just 
before  they  got  to  it,  Royal  observed  that  there 
were  ledges  of  rocks  below  the  bridge,  running 
out  into  the  water;  and  he  said  that  he  should 
rather  go  down  upon  those  rocks. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  should  like  to  go  down 
there  too,  very  much,  if  she  thought  it  was  safe  ; 
and  she  concluded  to  go  down,  slowly  and  carefully, 
and  see.  They  found  that,  by  exercising  great 
caution,  they  could  advance  farther  than  they  had 
supposed.  Sometimes  Royal,  who  was  pretty 
strong,  helped  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  down  a  steep 
place;  and  sometimes  they  had  to  step  over  a 
narrow  portion  of  the  torrent.  They  found  them- 
selves at  last  all  seated  safely  upon  the  margin  of 
a  rocky  island,  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  with 
the  water  foaming,  and  roaring,  and  shooting  swift- 
ly by,  all  around  them. 

"  There,"  said  Royal, "  isn't  this  a  good  place  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy ;  "  I  never  saw  the  water 
run  so  much  before." 

"  Children,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  look  down 
there ! " 

"Where?"  said  Royal. 

"  There,  upon  the  bank,  under  the  trees,  down 
11* 


126  lucy's  conversations. 

on  that  side  of  the  stream,  —  a  little  below  that 
large,  white  rock." 

"  Some  boys,"  said  Royal.     They're  fishing." 

"  I  see  'em,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal,  "  they  are  the  same  boys 
we  saw  in  the  road." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  and  don't  you  see 
Johnny  running  about  with  his  pole  ?  " 

"  Where  ? "  said  Lucy  ;  "  which  is  Johnny  ?  " 

"  That's  he,"  said  Royal,  "  running  about. 
Now  he's  gone  down  to  a  sandy  place  upon  the 
shore.  See,  he's  reaching  out  with  his  pole,  as  far 
as  he  can,  upon  the  water ;  he  is  trying  to  reach  a 
little  piece  of  board  that  is  floating  by.  There, 
he  has  got  it,  and  is  pulling  it  in." 

"  I  am  glad  George  got  him  a  pole,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  So  am  I,"  said  Royal. 

"  And  so  am  I,"  said  Lucy. 

"  It  seems  George  is  happier  himself,  if  Johnny 
has  something  to  make  him  happy  too ;  but  the 
other  boy  isn't." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  he  isn't  ? "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  Why,  he  did  not  want  George  to  stop.  He 
had  got  a  pole  himself,  and  he  did  not  care  any 
thing  about  Johnny's  having  one." 


JOHNNY.  127 

"  Yes,"  said  Royal,  "  so  I  think." 

"  Some  children,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  when 
they  have  anything  that  they  like,  always  want 
their  brothers  and  sisters  to  have  something  too  J 
and  George  seems  to  be  one  of  them. 

"  And  that  makes  me  think,"  continued  Miss 
Anne,  "  of  the  story  of  the  horse  and  the  picture- 
book." 

':  What  is  the  story  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  it  is  a  story  of  a  little  wooden  horse, 
which,  instead  of  spoiling  a  picture-book,  as  the 
dog  did,  made  it  much  more  valuable." 

"  Tell  us  all  about  it,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Very  well,  I  will,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  There 
was  once  a  boy  named  David.  His  uncle  sent 
him,  one  new  year's  day,  a  picture-book.  There 
was  a  picture  on  every  page,  and  two  on  the  cover. 
He  liked  his  picture-book  veiy  much  indeed  ;  but 
one  thing  diminished  the  pleasure  he  took  in  look- 
ing at  it." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  diminished  1 "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  Why,  made  it  smaller,"  said  Royal. 

"  Y  es,"  said  Miss  Anne  ;  "  and  the  circumstance 
which  made  his  pleasure  in  the  picture-book  less 
than  it  otherwise  would  have  been,  was,  that  his 
little  brother  Georgie  had  no  new  book  or  play- 


128  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

thing.  David  showed  Georgie  his  book,  and 
sometimes  let  him  have  it  by  himself;  but  he 
would  have  liked  it  better,  if  Georgie  had  had  a 
present  of  his  own." 

"  And  now  about  the  horse  ? "  said  Royal. 

*c  Well,  —  that  evening,  when  these  boys'  fa- 
ther came  home  to  supper,  he  brought  something 
tied  up  in  a  paper,  which,  he  said,  was  for  Georgie. 
David  took  it,  and  ran  to  find  Georgie,  —  hoping 
that  it  was  some  present  for  him.  Georgie  opened 
it,  and  found  that  it  was  a  handsome  wooden 
horse,  on  wheels,  —  with  a  long  red  cord  for  a 
bridle,  to  draw  him  about  by.  David  was  very 
much  pleased  at  this ;  and  now  he  could  go  and 
sit  down  upon  his  cricket,  and  look  at  his  book, 
with  a  great  deal  more  pleasure ;  for  Georgie  had 
a  present  too.  So,  you  see,  the  horse  made 
die  picture-book  more  valuable." 

The  children  sat  still  a  short  time,  thinking  of 
what  Miss  Anne  had  said ;  and  at  length  Royal 
said, 

"  Are  these  stories  which  you  have  been  telling 
us  true,  Miss  Anne?  " 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne,  quietly. 

"  Then  you  made  them  up." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  What  for  ? "  said  Lucy. 


JOHNNY.  129 

cWhy,  to  show  you  and  Royal,"  said  Miss 
Anne,  "  the  difference  between  a  monopolizing 
and  covetous  spirit,  and  one  of  generosity  and  be- 
nevolence, which  leads  us  to  wish  to  have  others 
possess  and  enjoy,  as  well  as  ourselves." 

Royal,  pretty  soon  after  this,  proposed  that  he 
and  Lucy  should  find  some  sticks  upon  the  little 
island,  where  they  were  sitting,  and  throw  them 
upon  the  water,  and  see  them  sail  down ;  and 
they  did  accordingly  amuse  themselves  in  this 
way  for  some  time.  Lucy  was  very  much  amused 
to  see  the  sticks  shoot  along  the  rapids,  and  dive 
down  the  little  cascades  among  the  rocks.  Miss 
Anne  helped  them  throw  in  one  piece  of  plank, 
which  had  drifted  down  from  the  mill,  and  which 
was  too  large  and  heavy  for  them  to  lift  alone. 
They  watched  this  for  some  time,  as  it  floated 
away  far  down  the  stream. 

At  last,  it  was  time  to  go  home ;  and  they  all 
went  back,  very  carefully,  over  the  stones,  until 
they  got  back  to  the  shore ;  and  then  they  walked 
home  by  a  new  way,  over  a  hill,  where  they  had 
a  beautiful  prospect. 

That  night,  just  before  sundown,  when  Royal 
and  Lucy  went  out  to  see  their  chickens,  Royal 
told  Lucy  that  she  might  have  the  little  black 
chicken  and  two  others  for  her  own. 


130  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  clapping  her  hands,  "  and 
will  you  let  me  keep  them  in  your  coop  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Royal ;  "or  I  will  let  you 
own  the  coop  with  me ;  —  you  shall  have  a  share 
in  the  coop,  in  proportion  to  your  share  of  the 
chickens." 

"  In  proportion  ?  "  said  Lucy ;  "  what  does  that 
mean  ? " 

"  Why,  just  as  much  of  the  coop  as  you  have 
of  the  chickens,"  said  Royal. 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  how  much  of  the  coop 
will  it  be,  for  three  chickens  ? " 

"  O,  I  don't  know,"  said  Royal. 

"  So  much  ? "  said  Lucy,  putting  her  hand 
upon  the  side  of  the  coop,  so  as  to  mark  off  a 
small  portion  of  it. 

"  O,  I  don't  mean,"  said  Royal,  "  to  divide  it. 
We  will  own  it  all  together,  in  partnership  ;  only 
you  shall  have  a  small  share,  just  in  proportion  to 
your  chickens." 

Lucy  did  not  understand  this  very  well,  but  she 
thought  more  about  the  chickens  than  about  the 
coop  ;  and  she  began  to  look  at  them,  one  by 
one,  carefully,  to  consider  which  she  should  have 
for  hers.  She  chose  two,  besides  the  black  one  ; 
and  she  said  that  she  meant  to  get  Miss  Anne 
to  name  them  for  her. 


JOHNNY. 


131 


Royal  took  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  after  this, 
every  time  that  he  came  out  to  see  his  chickens, 
in  observing  how  much  interest  Lucy  took,  every 
day,  in  coming  to  see  her  chickens,  and  how  much 
enjoyment  it  afforded  her  to  be  admitted  thus  to  c 
share  in  the  property. 


^^T.WsJ 


)Sis» 


132  lucy's  conversations. 


CONVERSATION   XI. 


GETTING    LOST. 


One  afternoon,  a  short  time  after  dinner,  Lucy 
was  sitting  upon  a  seat  under  a  trellis,  near  the 
door  which  led  towards  the  garden,  when  her 
mother  came  out. 

"  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  I  have  got  some  rather  bad 
news  for  you." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  am  rather  afraid  to  tell  you,  for  fear  it  will 
make  you  cry." 

"  O  no,  mother ;  I  shall  not  cry,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  her  mother,  "  we  shall  see.  The 
news  is,  that  we  are  all  going  away  this  afternoon, 
and  are  going  to  leave  you  at  home." 

"  What,  all  alone  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Not  quite  alone ;  for  Joanna  will  be  here," 
said  her  mother. 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  "  said  Luc) 

"  We  are  going  away,  to  ride." 

"  Why  can't  I  go  too  ?  "  said  Lucy. 


GETTING    LOST.  133 

"  I  can  explain  the  reason  better  when  we 
come  back,"  answered  her  mother. 

Lucy  did  not  cry  ;  though  she  found  it  very 
hard  to  refrain.  Her  father  and  mother,  and  Miss 
Anne  and  Royal,  were  all  going,  and  she  had  to 
remain  at  home.  They  were  going,  too,  in  a  kind 
of  barouche ;  and  when  it  drove  up  to  the  door, 
Lucy  thought  there  would  be  plenty  of  room  for 
her.  She  found  it  hard  to  submit ;  but  submission 
was  made  somewhat  easier  by  her  mother's  not 
giving  her  any  reasons.  When  a  mother  gives 
a  girl  reasons  why  she  cannot  have  something 
which  she  is  very  strongly  interested  in,  they  sel- 
dom satisfy  her,  for  she  is  not  in  a  state  of  mind 
to  consider  them  impartially.  It  only  sets  her  to 
attempting  to  answer  the  reasons,  and  thus  to  agi- 
tate and  disturb  her  mind  more  than  is  necessary. 
It  is  therefore  generally  best  not  to  explain  the 
reasons  until  afterwards,  when  the  mind  of  the 
child  is  in  a  better  condition  to  feel  their  force. 

After  the  barouche  drove  away,  Lucy  went  out 
into  the  kitchen  to  see  Joanna ;  and  she  asked 
Joanna  what  she  should  do.  Joanna  advised  her 
to  go  out  and  play  in  the  yard  until  she  had  got 
her  work  clone,  and  then  to  come  in  and  sit  with 
her  Lucy  did  so.  She  played  aboit  in  the 
12 


134  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

grass  until  Joanna  called  from  the  window,  and 
told  her  that  she  was  ready. 

Then  Lucy  came  in.  She  found  the  kitchen 
all  arranged  in  good  order,  and  Joanna  was  just 
sitting  down  before  a  little  table,  at  the  window, 
to  sew.  Lucy  got  her  basket  of  blocks,  and  began 
to  build  houses  in  the  middle  of  the  floor. 

"Joanna,"  said  she,  after  a  little  while,  "I 
wish  you  would  tell  me  something  more  about 
when  you  were  a  farmer's  daughter." 

"Why,  I  am  a  farmer's  daughter  now,"  said 
Joanna. 

"  But  I  mean  when  you  were  a  little  girl,  and 
lived  among  the  stumps,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Well,"  said  Joanna,  —  "  what  shall  I  tell  you 
about  ?  Let  me  see.  —  O,  I'll  tell  you  how  I  got 
lost  in  the  woods,  one  day." 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  should  like  to  hear 
about  that  very  much  indeed." 

"  One  day,"  said  Joanna,  "  my  father  was  go- 
ing a  fishing,  and  my  brother  was  going  with 
him." 

"  The  same  one  that  made  your  hen-coop  ?  " 
asked  Lucy. 

"  No,  he  was  a  bigger  one  than  that.  I  asked 
my  father  to  let  me  go  too.  At  first  he  said  I  was 
too  little ;  but  afterwards  he  said  I  might  go." 


GETTING    LOST.  135 

"  How  big  were  you  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  was  just  about  your  age,"  said  Joanna. 
"  My  mother  said  I  could  not  possibly  walk  so 
far ;  but  father  said  I  should  not  have  to  walk  but 
a  little  way,  for  he  was  going  down  the  brook  in 
a  boat. 

"  So  father  concluded  to  let  me  go,  and  we 
started  off,  —  all  three  together.  We  went  across 
the  road,  and  then  struck  right  into  the  woods." 

"  Struck  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes  ;  that  is,  we  went  right  in." 

"  O,"  said  Lucy. 

"  We  walked  along  by  a  sort  of  cart-road  a  lit- 
tle while,  until  we  came  to  a  place  where  I  just 
began  to  see  some  water  through  the  trees.  Fa- 
ther said  it  was  the  brook. 

"  When  we  got  down  to  it,  I  found  that  it  was 
a  pretty  wide  brook ;  and  the  water  was  deep  and 
pretty  still.  There  was  a  boat  in  the  brook.  The 
boat  was  tied  to  a  tree  upon  the  shore ;  my  brother 
got  in,  and  then  my  father  put  me  in ;  and  after- 
wards he  untied  the  boat,  and  threw  the  rope  in, 
and  then  got  in  himself.  Then  there  were  three 
of  us  in." 

"  Wasn't  you  afraid  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  I  was  afraid  that  the  boat  would  tip 
over;  but  father  said  that  it  wouldn't.     But  he 


136  lucy's  conversations. 

said  that  I  must  sit  still,  if  I  didn't  want  the  boat 
to  upset.  So  I  sat  as  still  as  I  could,  and  watched 
the  trees  and  bushes,  moving  upon  the  shore." 

"  I  wish  I  could  go  and  sail  in  a  boat,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  It  is  very  pleasant,"  said  Joanna,  "  when  the 
water  is  smooth  and  still.  The  branches  of  the 
trees  hung  over  the  water  where  we  were  sailing 
along,  and  one  time  we  sailed  under  them,  and 
my  brother  broke  me  off  a  long  willow  stick. 

"  After  a  time,  we  came  to  the  end  of  the  brook, 
where  it  emptied  into  the  pond." 

"  Emptied  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes ;  that  is,  where  it  came  out  into  the  pond." 

"  Do  brooks  run  into  ponds  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Not  always,"  said  Joanna ;  "  sometimes  they 
run  into  other  larger  brooks,  and  sometimes  into 
rivers,  and  sometimes  into  ponds.  This  brook  ran 
into  a  pond ;  and  when  we  came  to  the  end  of 
the  brook,  our  boat  sailed  right  out  into  a  pond. 
This  pond  was  the  place  where  they  were  going 
to  catch  the  fishes." 

"Why  didn't  they  catch  the  fishes  in  the 
brook  ?  "    asked   Lucy. 

"  I  believe  they  could  not  catch  such  large 
fishes  there,"  said  Joanna.  "  At  any  rate,  they 
went  out  into  the  pond.     There  was  a  point  oi 


GETTING    LOST.  137 

land  at  the  mouth  of  the  brook,  and  when  my 
father  had  got  out  around  this  point,  he  began 
to  fish." 

"  Did  he  catch  any  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  He  caught  one,  and  my  brother  caught  one  ; 
and  after  that,  they  could  not  catch  any  more  for 
some  time.  At  last,  my  father  said  it  was  not 
worth  while  for  them  both  to  stay  there  all  the 
afternoon,  and  that  my  brother  might  go  back  home 
by  a  road  across  through  the  woods,  and  he  would 
stay  and  see  what  luck  he  should  have  himself. 
He  said,  too,  that  I  might  stay  with  him,  if  I 
chose." 

"  And  did  you  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  replied  Joanna.  "  At  first,  I  thought  1 
should  like  to  stay  with  father ;  but  then  I  had  al- 
ready become  pretty  tired  of  sitting  in  the  boat 
with  nothing  to  do,  and  so  I  concluded  to  go  with 
my  brother.  Besides,  I  wanted  to  see  what  sort 
of  a  road  it  was  across  through  the  woods. 

"  My  father  then  took  his  line  in,  and  paddled 
the  boat  to  the  shore,  to  let  me  and  my  brother 
get  out.  Then  he  went  back  to  his  fishing-ground 
again,  and  let  down  his  line.  As  for  my  brother 
and  myself,  we  went  along  a  little  way,  until  we 
came  to  a  large  pine-tree,  which  stood  not  very 
far  from  the  shore  of  the  pond ;  and  there  we 
12* 


138 


LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 


turned  into  the  woods,  and  walked  along  to- 
gether." 

"  And  was  it  in  these  woods  that  you  got  lost  ? " 
said  Lucy. 

"  Not  exactly,"  said  Joanna  ;  "  but  I  will  tell 
you  all  about  it.  We  went  along  a  little  way 
without  any  difficulty,  but  presently  we  came  to 
a  bog." 

"  What  is  a  bog  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  it  is  a  low,  wet  place,  where  wild  grass 
and  rushes  grow.  The  path  led  through  this  bog, 
and  brother  said  he  did  not  think  that  I  could  get 
along  very  well." 

"  I  should  not  think  that  he  could  get  along 
himself,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Joanna,  "  he  could  get  along 
by  stepping  upon  the  stones  and  hummocks  of 
grass ;  and  he  tried  to  carry  me,  at  first ;  but  he 
soon  found  that  it  would  be  a  great  deal  of  work, 
and  he  said  that  I  had  better  go  back  to  my  fa- 
ther, and  get  into  the  boat,  and  stay  with  him. 

"  I  said,  '  Well ; '  and  he  carried  me  back  as 
far  as  to  hard  ground ;  and  then  he  told  me  to  go 
back  by  the  path,  until  I  came  to  the  pine-tree ; 
and  then  he  said  I  should  only  have  to  follow  the 
shore  of  the  pond,  a  short  distance,  when  I  should 
come  in  sight  of  father's  boat." 


GETTING    LOST.  139 

"  Yes,  but  how  could  you  get  into  the  boat," 
said  Lucy,  "  without  getting  wet,  when  it  was  so 
far  from  the  shore  ? " 

"  O,  I  could  call  to  my  father,  and  he  would 
come  to  the  shore  and  take  me  in,"  said  Joanna. 

«  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  tell  on." 

"  I  walked  along  the  path,  without  any  trou- 
ble, until  I  came  to  the  great  pine-tree,  where  I 
saw  a  woodpecker." 

"  A  woodpecker  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

(C  Yes ;  that  is,  a  kind  of  a  bird  which  pecks 
the  bark  and  wood  of  old  trees,  to  get  bugs 
and  worms  out  of  it,  to  eat." 

"  I  should  not  think  that  bugs  and  worms 
would  be  good  to  eat,"  said  Lucy. 

"  They  are  good  for  woodpeckers,"  said  Joan- 
na. "This  woodpecker  was  standing  upon  the 
side  of  the  great  pine-tree,  clinging  to  the  bark. 
He  has  sharp  claws,  and  can  cling  to  the  bark 
upon  the  side  of  a  tree.  I  looked  at  him  a  min- 
ute, and  then  went  on. 

"  1  followed  the  shore  of  the  pond,  until  I 
came  to  the  place  where  we  had  left  my  father 
fishing ;  but  when  I  looked  out  upon  die  water 
there,  the  boat  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  I  was 
very  much  frightened." 

"  Where  was  he  gone  ? "  said  Lucy. 


140  lucy's  conversations. 

"  I  did  not  know  then,"  said  Joanna ;  "  but  I 
learned  afterwards  that  he  had  found  that  he 
could  not  catch  any  fishes  there,  and  so  he  con- 
cluded to  go  up  the  brook  again,  and  see  if  he 
could  not  catch  any  there.  I  did  not  know  this 
then,  and  I  could  not  think  what  had  become 
of  him.  I  was  frightened.  I  did  not  see  how 
I  could  ever  find  my  way  home  again.  What 
do  you  think  I  did  first  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Lucy.     "  What-  was  it  ? " 

"  I  called  out,  Father !  Father !  Father ! 
as  loud  as  I  could  call ;  and  then  I  listened  for 
a  reply,  —  but  I  could  not  hear  any." 

"  Then  what  did  you  do  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Why,  I  began  to  consider  whether  I  could 
not  go  home  the  way  that  my  brother  had  gone, 
by  walking  along  through  the  mud,  even  if  it 
was  deep.  I  thought  I  had  better  get  my  feet 
wet  and  muddy  than  stay  there  in  the  woods 
and  starve." 
■  "  Well,  did  you  go  that  way  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Joanna ;  "  on  thinking  more  of  it, 
I  was  afraid  to  go.  I  did  not  know  but  that  the 
mud  would  be  deep  enough  somewhere  to  drown 
me;  and  then,  besides,  I  did  not  know  that  1 
could  find  the  way,  any  farther  than  I  had  gone 
with  my  brother. 


GETTING    LOST.  143 

"  The  next  plan  I  thought  of,  was  to  follow 
the  shore  of  the  brook  up.  You  remember  that 
we  came  down  the  brook,  in  the  boat ;  and  of 
course  I  knew  that,  if  I  went  up  the  brook,  either 
on  the  water  or  close  to  it,  upon  the  shore,  I 
should  be  going  back  towards  home.  I  tried 
this  way,  but  I  found  that  I  could  not  get  along." 

"  Why  couldn't  you  get  along? "  asked  Lucy 

"  Because,"  said  Joanna,  "  the  trees  and  bush 
es  were  so  thick,  and  the  ground  was  so  wet 
and  swampy,  in  some  places,  that  I  couldn't  get 
through.  Then  I  came  back,  and  sat  down 
upon  a  log,  near  the  shore  of  the  pond,  and  be- 
gan to  cry." 

"  And  didn't  you  ever  get  home  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Joanna,  laughing,  "  or  else 
how  could  I  be  here  now  to  tell  the  story  ? " 

"  O  !  —  yes,"  said  Lucy.  "  But  how  did 
you  get  home  ?  " 

"  Why,  pretty  soon  I  thought  that  the  best 
plan  would  be  for  me  to  stay  just  where  I  was, 
for  I  thought  that  as  soon  as  my  father  and 
brother  should  both  get  home,  and  find  that  I  was 
not  there,  they  would  come  alter  me ;  and  if , 
they  came  after  me,  1  knew  they  would  come, 
first  of  all,  to  the  place  where  my  brother  had 
told  me  to  go,  near  the  mouth  of  the  brook.     So 


144  lucy's  conversations. 

I  concluded  that  I  would  wait  patiently  there 
until  they  came. 

"  I  waited  all  the  afternoon,  and  they  did  not 
eome ;  and  at  last  the  sun  went  down,  and  still  I 
was  there  alone." 

"  Why  did  not  they  come  for  you  sooner  ? " 
asked  Lucy. 

"Why,  the  reason  was,  that  my  father  did 
not  get  home  until  night.  When  he  went  up 
the  brook,  he  found  a  place  where  he  could 
catch  fishes  quite  fast ;  and  so  he  staid  there  all 
the  afternoon.  He  thought  I  was  safe  at  home 
with  my  brother.  And  my  brother,  who  was 
at  home  all  this  time,  thought  that  I  was  safe  in 
the  boat  with  my  father. 

"  When  it  began  to  grow  dark,  I  thought  I 
should  have  to  stay  in  the  woods  all  night ;  but 
then  I  thought  that,  at  any  rate,  they  would 
come  for  me  the  next  morning ;  and  I  began  to 
look  around  for  a  good  place  to  lie  down  and 
go  to  sleep.  But,  just  then,  I  heard  a  noise, 
like  a  noise  in  the  water,  through  the  woods ; 
and  I  looked  that  way,  and  saw  a  light  glancing 
along  through  the  trees.  It  was  my  father  and 
brother  coming  down  the  brook  in  the  boat.  I 
called  out  to  them  as  loud  as  I  could,  and  they 
heard  me  and  answered.     They  came  round  the 


GETTING    LOST. 


145 


point  of  land,  and  then  up  to  the  shore  where  1 
was,  and  took  me  in.     And  so  I  got  home." 

Here  Lucy  drew  a  long  breath,  very  much 
relieved  to  find  that  Joanna  was  safe  home  again. 

"  What  did  you  do  when  you  got  home  ? " 
said  she. 

"  I   don't  recollect  very  well,"    said    Joanna, 
"  only  I  remember  that  my  mother  let  me  sit  u 
pretty  late,  and  eat  some  of  father's  fishes,  whicn 
she  fried  for  supper." 

When  Miss  Anne  came  home  that  night,  Lucy 
told  her  the  story  which  Joanna  had  related  to 
her.  She  told  her  while  Miss  Anne  was  putting 
her  to  bed.  Lucy  said  that  she  should  like  to 
be  lost  in  the  woods. 

"  O  no,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  you  would  not 
like  the  reality.  It  makes  an  interesting  stoiy 
to  relate,  but  the  thing  itself  must  be  very  dis- 
tressing." 

"  Well,  at  any  rate,"  said  Lucy,  "  1  should  like 
to  sail  under  the  trees  in  a  boat." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  would  be  pleas- 
ant, no  doubt." 

"  And  to  see  a  woodpecker,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  very  likely,"  said  Miss  Anne. 
13 


146  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

CONVERSATION   Xn. 

LUCY'S   SCHOLAR. 

After  this,  Lucy  often  "  played  boat "  for 
amusement.  She  built  her  boat  of  chairs  and 
crickets,  and  had  the  hearth  brash  for  a  paddle. 

One  evening,  just  after  tea,  when  she  was 
playing  in  this  way,  in  the  parlor,  Royal  looking 
on,  she  said  to  Miss  Anne, 

"  I  wish  we  had  a  real  boat." 

"  A  real  boat,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  would  do  no 
good,  unless  you  had  a  place  to  sail  it  in." 

"  Couldn't  we  sail  it  in  our  brook  ? "  asked 
Lucy. 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  Royal ;  "  there  is  scarcely 
water  enough  in  our  brook  to  float  my  turtle.''' 

"  O  Royal,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  is  a  great  deal 
too  deep  for  your  turtle." 

"  In  some  places,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  but  to 
sail  a  boat,  you  must  have  a  long  extent  of  deep 
water.  I  should  think,  however,  that  you  might 
have  a  better  boat  than  you  can  make  of  chairs 
and  crickets." 


lucy's  scholar.  147 

"  How  could  we  make  it  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  Royal  might  find  a  long  box,  out 
behind  the  barn ;  or  two  common  boxes,  and 
put  them  together,  end  to  end,  out  in  the  yard. 
You  might  put  two  boards  across  for  seats,  and 
have  poles  for  paddles." 

"  But  it  would  not  sail  any,"  said  Royal. 

"  If  you  want  it  to  sail,  you  must  put  some 
rollers  under  it,  and  then  you  can  push  it  along 
a  little." 

Royal  said  that  that  was  an  excellent  plan, 
and  that  he  meant  to  go  and  make  such  a  boat 
the  very  next  day.  He  said  he  did  not  believe 
but  that  he  could  put  a  mast  in,  and  hoist  up  a 
sail ;  or  at  least  a  flag  or  a  streamer 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  will." 

"  I  mean  to  go  now  and  see  if  there  is  a  box," 
said  Royal ;  "  it  is  just  light  enough." 

So  Royal  went  off  out  of  the  room. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  how  much  does  a 
real  boat  cost  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  exactly,  how  much,"  said  Miss 
Anne. 

"  I  don't  suppose  I  should  have  money 
enough  to  buy  a  boat,  even  if  we  had  a  deep 
brook  to  sail  it  in,"  added  Lucy. 


14.8  lucy's  conveusations. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  how 
much  money  have  you  got?" 

"  I  have  not  got  but  a  little ;  it  is  a  dollar,  or 
else  a  half  a  dollar ;  or  a  sixpence ;  I  don't  know 
exactly.     Royal  has  got  more  than  I." 

Miss  Anne  merely  said,  "  Has  he  ?  "  and  then 
the  conversation  dropped,  She  had  just  taken 
her  seat  at  her  work  table,  and  began  to  be  busy. 

"  I  wish  1  knew  of  some  way  that  I  could  earn 
money, "  said  Lucy.  "  Do  you  know  of  any 
way,  Miss  Anne  ? " 

"  What  did  you  say  ?  "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  Don't  you  know  of  some  way  that  I  could 
earn  money  ? " 

"  Why,  I  don't  know ;  earning  money  is 
rather  hard  work,  as  I've  heard  people  say.  I 
believe  young  ladies  generally  earn  money  by 
teaching." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  if  I  could  only  get  any 
scholars." 

"  Why,  you  must  be  your  own  scholar ;  teach 
yourself  to  read.  Come,  I  think  that  will  be  an 
excellent  plan." 

"  Can  I  earn  any  money  so  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,  I  should  think  so.  It  would  take  you 
three  months,  at  a  school,  to  learn  your  letterss 


lucy's  scholar.  149 

and  three  months  is  twelve  weeks.  Now,  I  sup- 
pose that  your  father  would  have  to  pay  about 
sixpence  a  week  for  you  to  go  to  school,  and 
that  would  make  twelve  sixpences ;  and  I  pre- 
sume he  would  be  willing  to  give  you  as  much 
as  eight  of  the  sixpences,  if  you  would  leam  to 
read  yourself." 

"  Why  not  all  the  twelve  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Because  you  would  not  do  quite  all  yourself. 
Somebody  would  have  to  answer  your  questions, 
and  show  you  what  the  letters  were,  at  first ;  so 
that  you  could  not  do*  it  all  yourself.  1  should 
think  that  perhaps  you  might  earn  eight  out  of 
the  twelve  sixpences.  That  would  be  one  six- 
pence for  every  three  letters." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  mean  to  try." 

"  If  you  think  you  would  like  to  try,"  said 
Miss  Anne,  "  I'll  form  a  plan  for  you,  so  that  you 
can  begin  to-morrow." 

Lucy  said  she  should  like  to  try,  and  accord- 
ingly Miss  Anne  reflected  upon  the  subject  that 
evening,  endeavoring  to  contrive  some  plan  by 
which  Lucy  might  sit  down  by  herself  and  study 
her  letters,  half  an  hour  every  day,  until  she  had 
learned  them  all.  She  thought  of  a  plan  which 
she  hoped  might  answer  pretty  well ;  and  the  text 
13* 


150  lucy's  conveksations. 

morning  she  made   preparations   for  carrying  it 
into  execution. 

First  she  got  Lucy's  little  table,  and  set  it  near 
one  of  the  windows  in  her  room ;  she  also  put 
her  little  chair  before  it.  Then  she  got  a  large 
flat  pin-cushion,  and  put  upon  the  table. 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne ! "  said  Lucy,  who  stood 
by  looking  at  all  these  preparations,  "  what  is  the 
pin-cushion  for  ?  I  never  heard  of  studying  with 
a  pin-cushion." 

"  You'll  see,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  I  am  going 
to  have  you  learn  to  read  on  the  pin-cushion 
method." 

Then  Miss  Anne  opened  an  ebony  box,  which 
she  had  upon  her  table,  and  took  out  a  very 
large  pin,  ancj  also  a  stick  of  red  sealing-wax. 
She  carried  these  into  the  kitchen,  Lucy  follow- 
ing her;  then  she  lighted  a  lamp,  and  melted 
some  of  the  sealing-wax,  and  stuck  it  upon  the 
head  of  the  pin,  turning  it  round  and  round,  and 
then  warming  it,  and  pressing  it  with  her  ringers, 
until  at  last  she  had  made  a  little  ball  of  sealing- 
wax,  about  as  big  as  a  pea,  which  covered  and 
concealed  the  original  head  of  the  pin. 

"  There,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  that  is  your 
pointer" 


lucy's  scholar.  151 

"  Let  me  take  it,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy.  "  1 
want  to  take  it." 

Miss  Anne  handed  the  pointer  to  Lucy,  and 
she  looked  at  it  carefully,  as  she  walked  slowly 
along  back  into  Miss  Anne's  room.  When  she  got 
there,  Miss  Anne  took  it,  and  stuck  it  into  the 
pin-cushion,  and  requested  Lucy  not  to  touch  it. 

Then  she  went  and  found  some  of  the  scattered 
leaves  of  an  old  picture-book,  which  had  once 
been  Royal's,  but  was  now  nearly  worn  out  and 
almost  destroyed.  She  took  one  of  these  leaves, 
and  spread  it  out  upon  the  pin-cushion.  Then 
she  seated  Lucy  before  it,  and  put  the  pointer  in 
her  hands. 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  she,  "  what  letter  do  you 
know?" 

"  I  know  o  the  best,"  said  Lucy. 

Then  Miss  Anne  pointed  to  the  upper  line, 
and  in  the  third  word  there  was  an  o. 

"  There,"  said  she  — "  prick  it  with  your 
pointer." 

Lucy  pricked  through  the  o  with  great  force, 
so  as  to  sink  the  pin  for  half  its  length  into  the 
pin -cushion.  ^. 

"That  will  do,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "Now 
look  along  until  you  find  another  o." 

Lucy  found  one  about  the  middle  of  the  line. 


152  lucy's  conveksations. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  prick  him  too,  — 
only  do  it  gently,  so  as  just  to  put  the  point  in  a 
little  way ;  and  when  you  are  doing  it,  say,  o." 

Lucy  did  so.  She  pressed  the  point  of  the 
pin  through  the  letter,  and  at  the  instant  that 
it  went  through,  she  said,  o. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  the  plan  is  for 
you  to  go  on  in  that  way.  Look  all  through 
that  line,  and  prick  every  o  you  can  find.  Then 
take  the  next  line,  and  the  next,  and  so  on 
regularly  through  the  whole,  and  prick  every  o. 
After  you  have  done,  put  the  pointer  into  the 
pin-cushion,  and  the  pin-cushion  into  your  drawer. 
Then  set  your  chair  back,  and  bring  the  paper 
to  me." 

Lucy  was  very  ready  to  go  on  with  this  work. 
In  fact,  while  Miss  Anne  was  speaking,  she  had 
found  another  o,  and  was  just  going  to  prick  ;  but 
Miss  Anne  stopped  her,  and  told  her  that  it  was 
not  rulable  to  begin  to  obey  her  orders  until  she 
had  finished  giving  them. 

At  last,  Miss  Anne  went  out  of  the  room,  and 
left  Lucy  at  her  work.  Lucy  pricked  away, 
very  industriously,  for  neaikr  half  an  hour.  She 
had  then  got  almost  to  the  bottom  of  the  page. 
There  she  found  a  capital  o,  thus,  O,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  sentence;    and   she   did  not  know 


LUCY'S    SCHOLAR. 


15' 


whether  she  ought  to  prick  such  a  one  as  that 
or  not.  While  she  was  considering,  she  heard 
Royal's  voice  in  the  entry  way,  calling  her. 

Lucy  answered,  in  a  loud  voice, 

"  Here  I  am,  Royal,  —  here,  in  Miss  Anne's 
room." 

Royal  advanced  to  the  door  of  Miss  Anne's 
room,  and  looked  in.  He  had  his  cap  on,  and 
seemed  to  be  in  haste. 

"  Come,  Lucy,"  said  he,  "  let's  go  and  make 
our  boat." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  just  wait  till  I  have 
pricked  two  more  lines." 

"  Pricked,"  said  Royal,  —  "  what  do  you  mean 
by  pricking  ? " 

Royal  came  up  to  the  little  table  where  Lucy 
was  at  work,  and  looked  over  her  shoulder,  while 
she  explained  to  him  what  she  was  doing. 

"  I  am  going  to  find  eveiy  o  there  is  on 
this  page,  and  prick  them  all.  I  have  pricked 
down  to  here  already,  and  now  I  have  got  only 
two  lines  more  to  prick,  and  then  I  shall  come 
out." 

"  O,  come  out  now,"  said  Royal,  "  and  let 
the  pricking  go." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  must  wait  and  finish 
my  work." 


154  lucy's  conversations. 

"'  That  isn't  work,"  said  Royal ;  "  it  is  nothing 
but  play.     It  does  not  do  any  good." 

"  Yes  it  does/'  said  Lucy ;  "I  am  doing  it  to 
earn  money." 

"  To  earn  money  ! "  repeated  Royal ;  and  he 
began  to  laugh  aloud  at  the  idea  of  earning 
money  in  any  such  way  as  that. 

Lucy  explained  to  Royal  that  this  was  a 
way  which  Miss  Anne  had  contrived  for  her  to 
learn  her  letters  herself,  without  troubling  other 
people,  and  that  she  had  told  her  that  she  should 
have  sixpence  for  every  three  letters. 

Royal  then  perceived  that  the  plan  was  at 
least  worthy  of  being  treated  with  more  respect 
than  he  had  at  first  supposed  ;  —  but  then  he 
told  Lucy  that,  in  his  opinion,  she  was  beginning 
wrong. 

"  You  ought  to  begin  with  some  letter  that 
you  don't  know,  Lucy,"  said  he ;  "  you  know  o 
now,  as  well  as  I  know  my  own  thumb;  and 
of  course  it's  of  no  use  to  prick  it." 

Lucy  did  not  know  what  to  reply  to  this  rea- 
soning,—  only  that  Miss  Anne  had  told  her  to 
prick  o,  and  Miss  Anne  knew  best. 

"  At  any  rate,"  said  Royal,  "  you  can  finish 
it  another  time;  so  come  out  with  me  now, 
and  help  me  get  out  the  boxes  for  our  boat." 


LUC!  b    SCHOLAR.  155 

Lucy  concluded  that  she  would  go  out  a  few 
minutes  with  Royal,  and  then  come  back  again, 
and  finish  her  work.  They  accordingly  went 
out  together. 

They  found  one  long  box,  which  Royal  said 
would  do  very  well  indeed  for  a  boat.  The  box 
was  made  to  pack  bedsteads  in,  and  of  course 
it  was  more  than  six  feet  long ;  but  it  was  nar- 
row, like  a  boat,  and  Royal  said  it  was  just  the 
thing. 

The  children  got  this  down  upon  a  place 
where  the  ground  was  smooth  and  hard  ;  and 
Lucy  got  so  much  interested  in  playing  boat, 
that  she  entirely  forgot  her  pricking  for  two 
hours ;  and  then  the  first  bell  rang,  to  call  them 
in  to  dinner. 

The  first  bell  always  rang  ten  minutes  before 
the  second  bell.  This  was  to  give  Royal  and 
Lucy  time  to  come  in  and  get  ready.  Lucy 
thought  that  she  should  just  have  time  to  finish 
the  two  lines,  and  she  ran  in  to  Miss  Anne's 
room  to  sit  right  down  to  her  work.  To  her 
•surprise,  however,  as  soon  as  she  got  in,  she  saw 
fJiat  her  chair  was  not  before  the  little  table,  but 
nad  been  set  back ;  and  the  pin-cushion,  pointer, 
and  paper,  had  all  entirely  disappeared. 


156  lucy's  conversations. 

Lucy  went  into  the  parlor,  and  found  Miss 
Anne  placing  the  chairs  around  the  dinner  table. 

"  Miss  Anne,"  said  she,  in  a  tone  of  complaint, 
"  somebody  has  taken  away  all  my  things." 

"  That  is  some  of  my  mischief,  I  suppose," 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  Did  you  take  them  away  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  put  them  away,"  replied  Miss  Anne.  "  I 
went  into  my  room,  about  an  hour  after  I  left 
you  there,  and  found  that  you  had  gone  away 
to  play,  and  had  left  your  work  all  out  upon  the 
table  ;  and  so  I  had  to  put  it  away." 

"Why,  I  was  coming  right  back  again,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  And  did  you  come  right  back  ? " 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Lucy.  "  Royal  wanted  me 
to  stay  with  him  so  much  ! " 

"I  thought  you'd  find  it  rather  hard  to  earn 
money.  You  ought  to  have  waited  until  you 
had  finished  your  work,  and  then  you  could  have 
gone  out  to  play. — But  I  don't  mean  that  you 
did  wrong.  You  had  a  right,  if  you  chose,  to 
give  up  the  plan  of  earning  money,  and  have 
your  play  instead." 

"  Why,  Miss  Anne,  I  almost  finished  the  work. 
I  pricked  all  but  two  lines." 


lucy's  scholar.  157 

"  Yes,  but  then  you  left  the  work  of  putting 
the  things  away  to  me ;  and  that  gave  me  about 
as  much  trouble  as  all  your  pricking  did  good. 
So  you  did  not  earn  any  thing." 

"  Well,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  will  try  this  afternoon, 
while  Royal  is  at  his  studies ;  and  then  he  won't 
want  me  to  go  out  and  play." 

She  took  s  for  her  letter  that  afternoon,  and 
she  pricked  all  that  she  could  find  on  the  page. 
Then  she  put  her  work  carefully  away,  all 
except  the  page  itself,  which  she  brought  to  Miss 
Anne,  so  that  she  might  examine  it.  Miss  Anne 
found  that  she  had  done  it  very  well.  She  had 
pricked  almost  every  one.  Miss  Anne  looked  it 
over  very  carefully,  and  could  only  find  two  or 
three  which  Lucy  had  overlooked. 

After  this,  Lucy  persevered  for  several  weeks 
in  pricking  letters.  She  took  a  new  letter  every 
day,  and  she  generally  spent  about  half  an  hour 
at  each  lesson.  She  learned  to  be  very  still  while 
she  was  thus  engaged,  saying  nothing  except  to 
pronounce  aloud  the  name  of  the  letter  when  she 
pricked  it,  which  Miss  Anne  said  was  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  exercise. 

In  this  way,  in  process  of  time,  she  learned 
all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet ;  and  her  father 
paid  her  the  eight  sixpences.     With  one  of  these 


158 


LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 


sixpences  she  bought  a  fine  black  lead  pencil, 
to  draw  with,  and  a  piece  of  India  rubber,  to  rub 
out  her  marks  when  they  were  made  wrong. 

Miss  Anne  also  taught  her  how  to  make  a 
purse  to  keep  the  rest  of  her  money  in ;  and  when 
the  purse  was  done,  Lucy  put  the  money  into 
it,  and  got  Miss  Anne  to  let  her  keep  it  in  one 
of  her  drawers.  She  was  afraid  it  would  not  be 
quite  safe  in  her  treasury. 


SKETCHING.  159 


CONVERSATION    XIIi. 
SKETCHING. 

Lucy  asked  Miss  Anne  if  she  would  let  her 
go  with  her  the  next  time  that  she  went  out  to 
make  sketches,  and  let  her  try  to  see  if  she  could 
not  make  sketches  too,  with  her  new  pencil. 
Miss  Anne  had  two  or  three  pencils,  which  she 
kept  in  a  little  morocco  case,  and  some  small 
sheets  of  drawing  paper  in  a  portfolio.  Some- 
times, when  she  went  out  to  walk,  she  used  to 
take  these  drawing  implements  and  materials 
with  her,  and  sit  down  upon  a  bank,  or  upon- 
a  rock,  and  draw,  while  Lucy  was  playing 
around. 

But  now,  as  Lucy  herself  had  a  pencil,  she 
wanted  to  carry  it  out,  so  that  she  could  make 
sketches  too. 

Miss  Anne  said  that  she  should  like  this  plan 
very  much ;  and  accordingly,  one  pleasant  sum- 
mer afternoon,  they  set  off.  Miss  Anne  tied 
Lucy's  pencil  and  India  rubber  together,  by  a 
strong  silk  thread,  so  that  the  India  rubber  might 


1G0  lucy's  conversations. 

not  be  so  easily  lost.  The  other  necessary  mate- 
rials —  namely,  some  paper,  some  pencils  for  Miss 
Anne,  and  two  thin  books  with  stiff  covers,  to 
lay  their  paper  upon,  while  drawing  — were  all 
properly  provided,  and  put  in  a  bag,  which  Miss 
Anne  had  made,  and  which  she  always  used  for 
this  purpose. 

Lucy  observed,  also,  that  Miss  Anne  put  some- 
thing else  in  her  bag.  Lucy  thought,  from  its 
appearance,  that  it  was  a  square  block ;  but  it 
was  folded  up  in  a  paper,  and  so  she  could  not 
see.  She  asked  Miss  Anne  what  it  was,  and 
Miss  Anne  told  her  it  was  a  secret. 

They  walked  along  without  any  particular 
adventure  until  they  came  to  a  bridge  across  a 
stream.  It  was  the  same  stream  where  they  had 
sat  upon  the  rocks  and  seen  George  and  the 
other  boys  fishing ;  but  this  was  a  different  part 
of  the  stream,  and  the  water  was  deep  and  still. 
Lucy  and  Miss  Anne  stopped  upon  the  middle 
of  the  bridge,  and  looked  over  the  railing  down 
to  the  dark  water  far  below. 

"  O,  what  deep  water ! "  said  Lucy. 

"  How  could  we  get  over  this  river  if  it  were 
not  for  this  bridge  ? " 

"INot  very  conveniently,"  said  Miss  Anne, 

"  We  could  not  get  over  at  all,"  said  Lucy. 


SKETCHING. 


161 


"  Perhaps  we  might,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  kC  there 
are  several  ways  of  getting  over  a  river  besides 
going  over  upon  a  bridge." 

"  What  ways  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  One  is  by  a  ferry." 

"  What  is  a  ferry  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  a  large  boat  which  is  always  ready  to 
carry  persons  across.  The  ferry-man  generally 
lives  in  a  house  very  near  the  bank  of  the  river ; 
and  if  any  body  wants  to  go  across  the  river,  they 
call  at  his  house  for  him,  and  he  takes  them  across 
in  his  boat.     Then  they  pay  him  some  money." 

"  But  suppose  they  are  on  the  other  side," 
said  Lucy. 

"  Then,"  said  Miss  Anne, "  they  have  to  call  or 
blow  a  trumpet.  Sometimes  they  have  a  trumpet 
for  people  to  blow  when  they  want  the  ferry-man 
to  come  for  them.  But  sometimes,  where  there 
are  a  great  many  travellers  on  the  road  that  leads 
to  the  ferry,  the  boats  are  coming  and  going  all  the 
time ;  and  then  people  don't  have  to  call  or  to 
blow  any  trumpet." 

"  How  much  money  do  they  have  to  pay," 
said  Lucy,  "  for  carrying  them  across  ?  " 

"  That  depends  upon  circumstances,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  If  a  man  goes  alone,  he  does  not  have 
to  pay  so  much  as  he  does  if  he  is  in  a  chaise ; 


162  lucy's  conversations. 

and  if  he  has  a  carriage  and  two  horses,  he  has  to 
pay  more  still." 

"Why,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "can  they 
carry  over  a  carnage  and  two  horses  in  a  boat  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  a  stage-coach  and 
six  horses,  if  necessary.  They  have  large,  flat- 
bottomed  boats  for  the  carriages  and  carts,  and 
small,  narrow  boats  for  men,  when  they  want  to 
go  alone." 

While  this  conversation  had  been  going  on, 
Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  had  walked  along  to  some 
distance  beyond  the  bridge.  They  took  a  road 
which  led  to  an  old,  deserted  farm-house,  and 
some  other  buildings  around  it,  all  in  a  state  of 
ruin  and  decay.  The  man  who  owned  it  had 
built  himself  a  new  house,  when  he  found  that 
tills  was  getting  too  old  to  be  comfortable  to  live 
in.  The  new  house  was  upon  another  part  of  hL<» 
farm,  and  it  was  another  road  which  led  to  it ;  so 
that  these  old  buildings  had  been  left  in  a  very 
secluded  and  solitary  position.  Miss  Anne  liked 
very  much  to  come  to  this  place,  when  she  came 
out  to  make  sketches,  for  she  said  that  in  all 
the  views  of  the  buildings,  on  every  side,  there 
were  a  great  many  beautiful  drawing  lessons. 

The  roof  of  the  house  in  one  place  had  tum- 
bled in,  and  the  shed  had  blown  down  altogether. 


SKETCHING.  163 

There  was  one  barn,  however,  that  was  pretty 
good  ;  and,  in  fact,  the  farmer  used  it  to  store  his 
surplus  hay  in  it. 

Lucy  sat  down,  with   Miss   Anne,  under  the 
shade  of  some  trees,  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
buildings,  and  they  began  to  take  out  their  draw 
ing  materials. 

"  Now,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  what  shall  I 
draw  ? " 

"  I  think  that  the  well  will  be  the  best  lesson 
for  you." 

There  was  an  old  well  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  house,  upon  the  green,  with  a  group  of  vener- 
able old  lilac  bushes  near  it.  The  water  had 
been  raised  by  a  well-sweep,  but  the  sweep  itself 
had  long  since  gone  to  decay,  though  the  tall  post 
with  a  fork  at  the  top,  which  had  supported  the 
sweep,  was  still  standing. 

So  Miss  Anne  recommended  that  Lucy  should 
attempt  to  draw  the  well. 

"  But,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  want  to 
draw  the  same  thing  that  you  do." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Miss  Anne  ;  "  then  we  will 
both  draw  the  well." 

"  So  we  will,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  but,  Miss  Anne, 
you  must  tell  me  how.  1  don't  know  how  to 
draw,  myself." 


164  lucy's  conversations. 

Miss  Anne  gave  Lucy  some  instructions,  ac- 
cording to  her  request.  She  told  her  that  she 
must  mind  the  shape  of  the  things  more  than  any- 
thing else.  "  All  depends  upon  the  proportions," 
said  Miss  Anne. 

"  What  is  proportion  ? "  said  Lucy.  "  Royal 
told  me  something  about  it,  but  I  could  not  un- 
derstand him  very  well." 

"  Suppose  you  look  over  me  a  few  minutes,  and 
see  how  I  do  it,"  said  Miss  Anne. 

Lucy  liked  this  proposal  very  much  ;  and  she 
stood  veiy  still,  for  some  time,  while  Miss  Anne, 
with  her  paper  upon  her  book,  and  her  book  upon 
her  knee,  began  to  make  her  drawing,  talking 
all  the  time  as  follows  :  — 

"  First,  there  is  the  post ;  I  will  draw  that  first, 
I  must  make  it  look  just  as  long  upon  the  paper 
as  it  does  in  reality.  And  do  you  think  it  stands 
quite  upright  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  leans." 

"  Which  way  does  it  lean  ? "  asked  Miss  Anne. 

"  It  leans  towards  the  well,  I  think,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  So  it  does ;  and  I  must  draw  a  line  for  one 
side  of  the  post,  and  make  this  line  lean  over 
towards  the  place  where  my  well  is  going  to  be, 
just  as  much  as  the  post  really  leans." 


SKETCHING.  165 

Miss  Anne  then  drew  the  line,  and  asked  Lucy 
to  look  at  it  carefully,  and  see  whether  it  leaned 
any  more,  or  any  less,  than  the  real  post  did. 

Lucy  looked  at  it  very  carefully,  but  she  could 
not  see  that  there  was  any  difference. 

"  Now,"  continued  Miss  Anne,  "  1  must  begin 
to  draw  the  well ;  and  I  must  have  it  at  just  the 
right  distance  from  the  post." 

Then  Miss  Anne  put  down  her  pencil  very 
near  to  the  post,  and  asked  Lucy  if  she  thought 
that  that  was  about  right. 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  that  is  a  great  deal  too 
near." 

Miss  Anne  then  moved  the  point  of  her  pencil 
off  almost  to  the  end  of  the  paper. 

"  Would  that  be  right  ?  "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"Ono;  that  is  too  far." 

"  But  it  is  not  so  far  as  it  is  in  reality,  on  the 
ground,  from  the  post  to  the  well." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy,  "  but  you  are  not  going  to 
have  the  picture  so  large  as  the  real  well." 

"  That  is  it,  exactly,"  said  Miss  Anne.  "  The 
picture  itself  is  all  going  to  be  smaller  than  the  re- 
ality ;  and  the  drawing  of  the  well  must  be  just  as 
much  smaller  than  the  real  well,  as  the  drawing 
of  the  post  is  than  the  real  post.  Then  it  is  all 
in  proportion." 


166  lucy's  conversations. 

"  Now,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  I  will  move  my 
pencil  up  nearer,  and  you  may  tell  me  when  it  is 
too  far  off,  and  when  it  is  too  near,  for  the  proper 
place  for  me  to  draw  the  side  of  the  well.  Is  that 
right  ? "  she  added,  after  placing  the  point  of  the 
pencil  in  a  new  position. 

"  That  is  too  near,"  said  Lucy. 

"  And  that  ? "  said  Miss  Anne. 

"  That  is  about  right,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Look  again,  carefully." 

"  Hark  !  what's  that  ? "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  sounds  like  thunder,"  said  Miss  Anne ; 
;( but  I  rather  think  it  is  only  a  wagon  going  over 
the  bridge." 

A  few  minutes  afterwards,  however,  the  sound 
was  repeated,  louder  and  more  distinct  than 
before,  and  Miss  Anne  said  it  was  thunder,  and 
that  they  must  go  home,  or  that  they  should  get 
caught  in  a  shower.  They  looked  around,  and 
saw  that  there  were  some  large,  dark-looking 
clouds  rising  in  the  west ;  and  Miss  Anne  said 
that  they  must  put  away  their  things,  and  go  home 
as  fast  as  they  could. 

"  But,  Miss  Anne,"  said  Lucy,  "  it  is  a  great 
way  home.  I  am  afraid  it  will  rain  on  us  before 
we  get  there." 

"  Why,  if  we  can  get  across  the  bridge,"  said 


SKETCHING.  167 

Miss  Anne,  "  we  can  go  into  some  of  the 
houses." 

"  Are  there  no  houses  before  we  come  to  the 
bridge  ? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Miss  Anne ;  "  but  I  think  we  shall 
have  time  to  go  farther  than  that." 

By  this  time  they  had  put  up  their  drawing  ma- 
terials, and  began  to  walk  along  towards  the  main 
road.  Miss  Anne  said  that  she  presumed  that  they 
should  have  ample  time  to  get  home ;  for  showers 
seldom  came  up  so  very  suddenly  as  to  prevent 
their  getting  home  from  a  walk. 

But  when  they  had  gone  about  half  way  to  the 
bridge,  Miss  Anne  began  to  be  afraid  that  they 
should  not  get  home.  There  was  a  large,  black 
cloud  spreading  along  the  western  sky,  and  the 
low  and  distant  peals  of  thunder  came  oftener,  and 
grew  gradually  louder  and  louder.  Miss  Anne 
walked  very  fast,  leading  Lucy,  who  ran  along 
by  her  side. 

Just  as  they  came  to  the  bridge,  the  great  drops 
of  rain  began  to  fall. 

"  There  !  "  said  Lucy,  —  "  it's  beginning." 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  and  I  have  a  great 
mind  to  go  under  the  bridge." 

Miss  Anne  had  just  time  to  say  "  under  the 
bridge,"  when  there  came  another  heavy  clap  of 


168  lucy's  conversations. 

thunder,  which  sounded  louder  and  nearer  than 
any  which  they  had  heard  before.  This  decided 
Miss  Anne  at  once.  She  turned  off  from  the  en- 
trance to  the  bridge,  and  began  to  walk  down  the 
steep  bank,  leading  Lucy.  When  they  had  de- 
scended to  the  margin  of  the  stream,  they  found  a 
narrow  strip  of  sand  between  the  water  and  the 
foundation  of  the  bridge. 

"  Yes,"  said  Miss  Anne,  "  here  is  plenty  of 
raom  for  us  to  stand." 

They  found  a  good  place  to  stand,  with  the 
water  of  the  stream  before  them,  and  the  great 
wall,  which  the  bridge  rested  upon,  behind  them. 
There  were  also  some  large,  smooth  stones  lying 
there,  which  they  could  sit  down  upon.  A  very 
few  minutes  after  they  had  fixed  themselves  in 
this  place  of  shelter,  the  rain  began  to  come 
down  in  torrents.  The  thunder  rolled  and  re- 
verberated from  one  part  of  the  heavens  to  an- 
other, and  once  or  twice  Lucy  saw  a  faint  flash 
of  lightning. 

Lucy  was  very  much  amused  at  the  curious  ef- 
fect produced  by  the  drops  of  rain  falling  upon 
the  water.  They  covered  the  water  all  over  with 
little  bubbles.  She  kept  calling  upon  Miss  Anne 
to  see ;  but  Miss  Anne  looked  anxious  and  afraid. 
By  and  by,  the  rain  began  to  come  down  through 


SKETCHING. 


169 


the  bridge,  and  they  had  to  move  a  little  to  keep 
from  getting  wet.  But  they  .succeeded  in  getting 
a  dry  place,  and  keeping  pretty  comfortable. 

"But  what  shall  we  do,"  said  Lucy,  "if  it 
rains  all  night  ?     We  can't  stay  here  all  night." 

"  Thunder  showers  don't  last  long,"  said  Miss 
Anne.  "  I  presume  it  will  be  pleasant  by  and  by, 
only  we  shall  get  our  feet  wet  going  home ;  for  the 
roads  will  be  very  wet,  and  full  of  pools  of  water. 

Just  then  they  heard  the  noise  of  wheels  in  the 
road,  as  if  a  chaise  or  carriage  of  some  sort  were 
cominjj  alono-  towards  them.  The  horse  travelled 
very  fast,  and  soon  came  upon  the  bridge,  and 
went  along  over  it,  passing  directly  above  their 
heads  with  great  speed,  and  with  a  noise  which 
sounded  louder  to  them  than  any  clap  of  thunder 
which  they  had  heard.  Lucy  was  sure  that  they 
would  break  through,  and  come  down  upon  their 
heads ;  and  even  Miss  Anne  was  a  little  fright- 
ened. They  little  knew  who  it  was  in  the  chaise. 
It  was  Royal  going  to  find  them,  to  bring  them 
home.  He  thought  it  probable  that  they  had 
gone  into  the  old,  ruined  buildings,  to  be  sheltered 
from  the  rain,  and  that  he  should  find  them  there. 

After  looking  there  for  them  in  vain,  he  came 
back,  and  he  happened  to  come  to  the  bridge  just 
15 


170  LUCY'S    CONVERSATIONS. 

as  Miss  Anne  and  Lucy  were  coming  out  from 
under  it.  They  were  very  glad  to  see  him.  The 
shower  was  over.  The  sun  had  come  out ;  the 
grass  and  trees  were  glittering  with  the  reflection 
of  the  bright  light  from  the  drops  of  rain  ;  and 
there  were  two  great  rainbows  in  the  east,  one 
bright,  and  the  other  rather  faint.  Royal  said  that 
he  would  have  the  faint  rainbow,  and  Lucy  might 
have  the  bright  one  for  hers.  Lucy's  rainbow 
lasted  until  some  time  after  they  got  home. 


CONVERSATION    XIV. 
DANGER. 

Lucy  often  had  singular  adventures  with  Royal 
and  her  father ;  but  one,  which  interested  her  as 
much  as  any,  was  an  adventure  she  once  met 
with  in  crossing  a  river.  The  circumstances  were 
these : — 

They  were  on  a  journey ;  Lucy  and  Royal 
were  travelling  with  their  father  and  mother. 

One  evening,  after  they  had  reached  the  end 
of  the  journey  for  the  day,  the  party  stopped  in  a 
village,  built  upon  an  eminence,  which  overlooked 
a  broad  and  very  fertile-looking  valley.  It  con- 
sisted of  extensive  intervals,  level  and  green,  and 


DANGER.  171 

spotted  with  elms,  and  with  a  river  winding 
through  them,  until  its  course  was  lost  among  the 
trees,  a  few  miles  below.  After  tea,  Royal  want- 
ed to  go  down,  across  the  intervals,  to  the  bank 
of  the  river,  to  see  the  water. 

'•'O  yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  let  me  go  too, 
father.'" 

"  O  no,"  said  Royal,  "  you  must  not  go." 

"Why  not?"  said  Lucy. 

"  Because,"  said  Royal,  "  we  may  find  a  boat 
there,  and  want  to  take  a  sail  in  it;  and  you 
couldn't  go." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Because,"  said  Royal,  "  you  wouldn't  dare 
to  go." 

"  Yes  I  should,"  said  Lucy. 

"  No,"  said  Royal,  "you  don't  dare  to  sleep  in 
a  room  alone  at  night,  in  a  hotel." 

"  But  I  think  she  will  not  be  afraid  to  go  in 
the  boat,"  said  her  father.  "  At  any  rate,  we  will 
let  her  go  with  us." 

Lucy  then  went  to  get  her  bonnet ;  and  when 
they   were   all  ready,  she   and  Royal  went  out 
together ;  their  father  followed  immediately  after 
wards.     Their  mother,  being  fatigued,  preferred 
to  remain  at  home. 

From  the  principal  street  of  the  village,  they 
passed  out,  through  a  pair  of  bars,  into  a  cart  road, 
which  led  through  the  mowing  fields  down  tO- 
wards  the  intervals. 

They  walked  on  together,  until  they  came 
down  to  the  intervals,  which  were  level  fields  of 


172  lucy's  conversations. 

grass  and  flowers,  very  beautiful,  and  extending 
on  each  side  of  them  very  far.  The  road  gradu- 
ally grew  narrower,  until  at  length  it  became  a 
mere  path,  which  finally  conducted  them  to 
die  bank  of  the  river.  Royal  and  Lucy  stood 
upon  the  bank,  and  looked  down  into  the  water. 

The  bank  was  quite  high  and  steep,  formed  of 
earth,  which  seemed  to  be,  from  time  to  time, 
caving  into  the  water.  It  was  green  to  the  very 
brink,  and  some  large  masses  of  turf  lay  down 
below  at  the  water's  edge,  and  partly  in  the  wa- 
ter, where  they  had  apparently  fallen  from  above. 
The  shore  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  was, 
however,  very  different.  It  was  a  low,  sandy 
beach,  with  the  water  rippling  along  the  pebbles, 
which  lay  upon  the  margin  of  it. 

"  O  father,"  said  Royal,  "  I  wish  we  could  get 
over  to  that  beach." 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  and  then  we  could  get 
down  and  throw  stones  into  the  water." 

"  If  we  had  a  boat,"  said  Royal,  '•'  we  could 
get  across." 

"  O  no,"  said  their  father,  "  this  river  is  too 
shallow  for  a  boat." 

"  How  do  you  know,  father  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"  Why,  I  can  see  the  bottom  all  the  way  ;  and 
then  I  know  by  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  that 
it  must  be  quite  shallow." 

Just  then  they  observed  some  men  coming 
down  towards  them,  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Royal's  father  asked  them,  when  they  came  up 
to  where  he  was  standing,  if  there  were  any 
boats  on  the  river. 


173 


"  Yes/'  said  the  men,  "  there  is  a  small  boat 
just  above  here,  which  you  can  have  if  you  want. 
Only  bring  it  safe  back  again." 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  Lucy's 
father  ;  "  are  there  any  oars  ?  " 

"  There  are  some  paddles,"  replied  one  of  the 
men.  ';  They're  hid  in  the  bushes,  just  opposite 
the  boat.  There  is  a  padlock  on  the  boat,  and  it 
looks  as  if  it  was  locked,  but  it  is  not.  You  can 
take  the  padlock  right  off." 

The  men  then  went  on  their  way  down  the 
river,  and  Lucy  and  Royal  ran  along  the  bank 
to  see  if  they  could  find  the  boat.  Their 
father  followed  them  more  slowly.  Presently, 
however,  they  all  came  to  the  place  where  the 
boat  was  lying. 

It  was  a  very  small  boat  indeed.  It-  was 
drawn  up  partly  u.pon  the  bank,  which  was  here 
not  quite  so  steep  as  where  the  children  had  first 
stood,  but  was  yet  considerably  precipitous.  The 
boat  was  fastened,  by  a  chain,  to  the  root  of  a 
large  elm-tree,  which  was  growing  upon  the  bank, 
the  roots  having  been  laid  bare  by  the  action  of 
the  water.  There  was  a  padlock  passing  through 
a  link  of  the  chain  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the 
boat  the  appearance  of  being  fastened  ;  but  Lu- 
cy's father  found  that  the  padlock  would  open 
easily,  without  any  unlocking,  and  so  they  soon 
got  the  boat  at  liberty. 

Royal  then  went  to  look  around  among  the 
grass  and  bushes  near,  to  see  if  he  could  find  the 
paddles.  Presently  he  called  out,  "  Here  they 
15* 


174  lucy's  conversations. 

are ! "  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  brought  them  to 
his  father. 

"  Now,  Lucy,"  said  her  father,  do  you  want  to 
get  in  and  sail  across  the  river  ? " 

"  Isn't  there  any  danger  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  father,  "  I  think  there  is  con- 
siderable danger." 

"  What !  that  we  shall  get  drowned  ? "  ex- 
claimed Lucy. 

"  No,"  replied  her  father ;  "  only  that  we  shall 
get  upset." 

"  Well,  father,"  said  Lucy,  "  if  we  get  upset, 
we  shall  certainly  be  drowned." 

"  O  no,"  replied  her  father ;  "  the  water  isn't 
deep  enough  to  drown  us  anywhere,  if  we  stand 
upright  upon  the  bottom.  And  then,  besides, 
there  is  no  danger  that  we  shall  be  upset,  unless 
where  it  is  very  shallow  indeed.  The  current 
may  sweep  us  away  down  the  stream,  so  that  we 
shall  lose  command  of  the  boat,  and  then,  if  we 
strike  a  large  stone,  or  a  sunken  log,  the  boat 
might  fill  or  go  over ;  but,  then,  in  the  places 
where  the  current  is  so  rapid,  the  water  is  no- 
where more  than  knee  deep.  Now  you  may  go 
with  us  or  not,  just  as  you  please." 

"  Royal,  what  would  you  do?  "  said  Lucy 

"  O,  I'd  go,"  said  Royal,  «  by  all  means." 

"  Would  you,  father? "  asked  Lucy. 

"  Yes,"  said  her  father,  "  unless  you  are  very 
much  afraid." 

Lucy  said  she  was  a  little  afraid,  but  not  much  ; 
and  sne  cautiously  stepped  into  the  boat.     Royal 


DANGER..  175 

got  in  after  her,  and  when  the  two  children  had 
taken  their  seats,  their  father  followed  them,  and 
took  his  place  in  the  stern,  with  one  of  the  pad- 
dles. Royal  had  the  other.  The  stern  is  the 
hinder  part  of  a  boat.  The  forward  part  is  called 
the  bows.  There  was  a  chain  attached  to  the 
bows  of  the  boat,  by  which  it  had  been  fastened 
to  the  shore. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  when  they  were 
all  seated,  you  must  remember  that,  if  you  go  with 
us,  you  must  obey  my  orders  exactly.'"' 

"  Yes,  father,  I  will,"  said  Royal. 

"  And  suppose,"  said  his  father,  "  that  I  order 
you  to  jump  into  the  river." 

"  Then  I'll  jump  right  in,"  said  Royal. 

"  Well,"  said  his  father,  "  we  shall  see." 

Royal  was  seated  forward,  at  the  bows  of  the 
boat.  The  boat  was  flat-bottomed,  and  square 
at  both  ends,  so  that  there  was  very  little  differ- 
ence between  the  bows  and  the  stern,  and  there 
was  a  place  to  sit  at  each.  Royal  put  his  paddle 
into  the  water,  and  began  to  paddle  a  little ;  but 
they  made  no  progress,  until  his  father  was  ready 
to  work  his  paddle  at  the  stem  of  the  boat ;  and 
then  it  began  slowly  to  glide  up  the  river,  keep- 
ing, however,  all  the  time  near  the  bank  from 
which  they  had  set  out.  The  water  appeared 
to  be  much  deeper  on  this  side  than  on  the  other, 
and  the  current  was  not  so  rapid.  Lucy,  however, 
by  looking  over  the  side  of  the  boat,  could  plainly 
see  the  gravel-stones  upon  the  bottom. 

They  went  along  very  smoothly  and  prosper- 


176  lucy's  conversations. 

ously,  but  yet  very  slowly,  for  some  time  ;  and  at 
length  Royal  asked  his  father  to  put  out  more 
into  the  stream.  So  his  father  turned  the  head 
of  the  boat  out,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  they 
found  themselves  in  the  middle  of  the  river. 
Now,  however,  instead  of  moving  up,  they  found, 
by  looking  upon  the  stones  at  the  bottom,  that 
they  were  drifting  down.  Royal  observed,  too, 
that  the  water  had  become  much  more  shallow, 
and  the  current  was  stronger.  He  looked  at  his 
father,  and  found  that  he  was  exerting  himself, 
with  all  his  strength,  to  force  the  boat  against  the 
current,  and  keep  it  from  being  carried  away. 

But  the  water  was  so  shallow,  that  the  end  of 
his  paddle  rubbed  upon  the  bottom,  and  pre- 
vented his  keeping  the  boat  under  command. 
Then  he  thought  that  he  would  use  his  paddle 
for  a  setting-pole,  instead  of  a  paddle ;  that  is, 
that  he  would  plant  the  lower  end  of  it  firmly  into 
the  gravel  at  the  bottom,  and  then  push  against 
it,  and  so  force  the  boat  to  go  up  the  stream. 

In  attempting  to  do  this,  however,  he  lost  the 
command  of  his  boat  still  more.  The  current, 
setting  strong  against  the  bows,  swept  that  end  of 
the  boat  round,  so  as  to  bring  her  broadside  to  the 
stream ;  and  then  she  was  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
the  water,  which  here  seemed  to  pour  over  the 
stones  in  a  torrent.  The  boat  went  flying  along 
over  the  rippling  waves,  within  a  very  few  inches 
of  the  pebble-stones  below.  Royal  began  to  be 
seriously  afraid. 

"  Can't  you  stop  her,  father  ?  "  said  he. 


DANGER.  177 

His  father  did  not  answer,  lie  was  so  intent 
upon  the  effort  which  he  was  making.  He  had 
thought  of  one  more  plan.  He  planted  the  foot 
of  his  paddle  into  the  gravel  on  the  bottom,  oppo- 
site the  middle  of  the  boat,  and  then,  letting  the 
middle  of  the  boat  press  against  it,  he  endeavored 
to  hold  it  by  main  force ;  but  the  force  of  the 
water  was  so  great,  that  the  boat  was  crowded 
over  until  it  just  began  to  let  in  water ;  so  that 
he  was  obliged  to  release  his  hold,  and  the  boat 
dnfted  away  again.  He  then  took  his  seat  once 
more  in  the  stern  of  the  boat. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  he,  "  stand  up  and  take 
hold  of  the  painter." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  said  Royal. 

"The  chain,"  replied  his  father  —  "the  chain 
fastened  to  the  bows." 

Royal  did  so. 

"  Now,"  said  his  father,  "  stand  up  steadily 
upon  the  bows,  and  then  step  down  carefully  into 
the  water." 

Royal  obeyed  his  father's  command  with  much 
firmness.  The  water  was  about  up  to  his  knees. 
He  staggered  a  little  at  first,  as  he  earned  with 
him  the  motion  of  the  boat;  but  he  soon  re- 
gained a  firm  footing. 

"  Now  stand  still,"  said  his  father, "  and  hold 
on." 

Royal  braced  himself,  by  his  position  in  the 
water,  against  the  action  of  the  boat,  which  pulled 
hard  upon  the  painter,  and  this  immediately  brought 
the  boat  round,  into  a  position  parallel  with  the 


178  lucy's  conversations. 

direction  of  the  current.  By  holding  on  finnly 
a  moment  longer,  he  stopped  the  boat,  and  the 
current  swept  swiftly  by  it,  dashing  the  rippling 
waves  almost  over  the  bows.  Lucy  sat  all  this 
time  very  quietly  on  the  middle  seat,  without 
saying  a  word. 

"  Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  "see  if  you  can 
draw  us  in  towards  the  shore." 

Royal  found,  that  although  it  had  been  so  dif 
ficult  for  his  father  to  push  the  boat  by  the  head, 
yet  that  he  himself  could  draw  it  pretty  easily 
with  the  chain.  So  he  walked  along  through  the 
water  towards  the  shore,  drawing  the  boat  aftei 
him.  In  a  few  minutes,  he  had  the  bows  safely 
drawn  up  upon  the  sand. 

His  father  then  stepped  out  upon  the  beach, 
telling  Lucy  to  sit  still.  He  took  his  stand  back 
a  little,  where  the  gravel  was  dry,  while  Royal 
remained  just  in  the  edge  of  the  water. 

"Now,  Royal,"  said  his  father,  "  you  may  see  if 
you  can  draw  Lucy  up  the  river.  Keep  just  far 
enough  from  the  shore  to  make  the  water  half 
knee  deep." 

Royal  was  much  pleased  with  this  arrange- 
ment ;  and  as  for  Lucy,  she  was  delighted.  $he 
sat  upon  the  middle  seat,  balancing  herself  ex- 
actly, so  as  not  to  upset  the  boat ;  while  Royal 
waded  along,  drawing  her  through  the  water, 
which  curled  and  rippled  on  each  side. 

"  O  Lucy,"  said  Royal,  stopping  to  look 
round,  "  we  can  play  this  is  a  canal-boat,  and 
that  I  am  the  horse." 


DANGER.  179 

"  So  we  can,"  said  Lucy ;  and  she  began  im- 
mediately to  chirup  to  him,  to  make  him  go 
faster. 

Royal  dragged  the  boat  along,  while  his  father 
walked  upon  the  shore.  Presently  they  came 
to  a  place  where  the  water  began  to  be  deeper, 
and  the  bottom  more  sandy ;  and  Royal  perceived 
that  the  current  was  not  nearly  as  rapid.  He 
looked  up  to  see  how  the  water  appeared  before 
him,  and  he  found  that  it  was  smooth  and  glassy, 
instead  of  being  rippled  and  rough,  as  it  had  been 
below.  His  father  noticed  this  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  the  water  too ;  and  he  told  Royal 
that  it  was  a  sign  that  there  was  no  current 
there.  So  he  directed  Royal  to  come  in  to  tlie 
shore,  and  they  would  all  get  in  again. 

Royal  accordingly  drew  the  boat  up  to  the 
shore,  and  they  all  got  in.  Now  they  found 
that  they  could  paddle  the  boat  very  easily.  It 
glided  over  the  smooth  water  with  a  very  gentle 
and  pleasant  motion.  Lucy  looked  over  the  side, 
and  watched  the  change  in  the  sandy  bottom  far 
below.  Sometimes  she  saw  a  great  log  lying 
across  the  bed  of  the  stream,  then  a  rock,  half 
imbedded  in  the  sand,  and  next  a  school  of  little 
fishes.  The  land,  too,  looked  beautiful  on  each 
side,  as  they  passed  along.  There  were  willows 
here  lining  the  bank,  and  now  and  then  a  great 
elm,  with  branches  drooping  over  almost  into  the 
water. 

After  sailing  about  in  this  smooth  water  a  little 
while,  their  father  said  that  it  was  time  for  therr 


180  lucy's  conversations. 

(o  go  home ;  and  so  he  brought  the  boat  round, 
turning  her  head  down  the  stream.  After  goim? 
down  in  that  direction  for  a  little  while,  Royal 
said, 

"  Why,  father,  you  are  going  right  upon  the 
ripples  again." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father,  "  we  are  going  over 
them." 

"  O  father,"  said  Lucy,  "  we  shall  upset." 

"  No,"  said  her  father,  "  there  is  no  danger, 
going  down." 

"  Why  not  ? "  said  Royal. 

"  Because,"  said  his  father,  "  I  shall  keep  her 
head  down,  and  then,  if  we  strike  a  snag,  it  will 
do  no  harm." 

"  What  is  a  snag  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  It  is  a  log  sunk  in  the  water,"  replied  her 
father. 

By  this  time  they  had  begun  to  enter  the 
rippling  water,  and  the  boat  shot  swiftly  along, 
bounding  over  the  little  billows  very  merrily. 
Lucy  was  at  first  a  little  afraid,  but  she  soon 
began  to  feel  safe,  and  to  enjoy  the  rapid  motion. 
They  soon  reached  the  place  where  they  had 
taken  the  boat,  and,  leaving  it  there,  fastened 
securely  as  they  had  found  it,  they  all  went  back 
across  the  intervals  towards  home. 


THE    END, 


